site shifted

Site shifted to nodtonothingness.wordpress.com
thanks!

to do list

P1000690.JPG, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

a list like this would suggest to u that i'll be going for a trip to somewhere important. yes, it is quite important. and yes, its a to-do list for my trip. no, i havent finish doing everything on the list, and yes, i'm flying off tomorrow. no, i havent finish packing, and yes, i'm writing something on the quite page. No, i havent had my hair cut, and yes, i'll do it tomorrow.
anyways, one of my to-do things is to stop writing on this blog. yes, it will make little difference considering how infrequent i update this page, and yes, i know its the second time i'm changing a new webpage address.

for those still interested, the old page (this page) will be strike off and the new page will be added into my list.
i'm still not sure why i did this, and why i even bother, but i guess its easier for me to share with u the things i've seen and experienced in another country. but i'll keep it simple and brief, so u'll still IM me thru msn or mail me to maintain a proper communication with me. for those still interseted, this new page is www.nodtonothingness.wordpress.com

bye

my best friend

my best friend, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

i worry for no reason

nothing seems to work. i'm constantly weighed down...

another raining day

another raining day, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

work table

my table at work, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

this is the view from my work table. yes, i am staring at art works, christian liagre chairs, and alva alto furniture daily. not to mention walking pass the frank gehry chair, sitting in front of the philipe stark juicer and tonnes of viabizono lights surrounding me.
Basically my work includes going to site visits, learning lots of PR skills from my boss, doing interior design for some swanky expensive apartments in orchard road, and looking at expensive furnitures that i dont think i will buy even when i'm rich.

mess

mess, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

repost. kinda lost my userid and password, so cant delete any post.

mess

mess, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

i've been shooting abit since sch ended...but this is the only one i think i like...maybe it reflects the kind of emotions i'm going through right now. Messed it.

crit is over

crit is over, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

those were the days

CIMG0125, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

currently in the midst of drawing up my panels for my year 3 design project submission. after this sem, i would have gotten my RIBA part 1 and my BA and completed half of my architectural education. it seems pretty fast for a duration of 3 years to go past like this. i came across this old photo and i can clearly remember it being taken a day b4 our first ever design submission. i ought to take one shot of the same ppl doing the same thing...rushing up drawings on eve of submission day. looking at myself, i cant believe how much i've changed in this 3 years...

i really miss having friends around me when i'm feeeling extremely stressed. i miss having buddies and friends within my reach in studio...i miss the coffee breaks, i miss times when i overslept in my sleeping bag..i miss the chill i get when the aircon suddenly switches on at 8 am. i miss having early breakfast in canteen after one whole night of work...i miss seeing the sky slowing liting up...i miss all the laughters and jokes in studio...i miss the slamming sound of the old drafting table...i miss seeing how some ppl sprawl across the light box to trace their drawings...i miss the symphony of chinese pop songs coming out from different laptops...i miss saying hi to ppl along the way to the toilet...i miss the sound of acrylic cutter sliding across those acrylics..i miss the occasional grunts frustrated fellow students let out...i miss having people giving honest opinions about my work...

i find myself getting more and more emotional and depressed as work now is me sitting in frnt of my computer alone in my room working thru the night alone, talking to myself alone, through writing this shit.

charlie and his psychedelic marching band of the southern seas

night, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

everything is in its right place. The marching band that rings the bell from the far away southern seas, charlie and his black bow tie, and the city which never sleeps, yet will never acknowledge the exsistance of charlie and his marching band. As they march smartly through the busy streets, playing their anthem of the night, the whole city turned their back agains them, pretending not to see, or hear the ringing bells. As they continued their match towards the southern seas, they proudly played their last anthem. one filled with pride, yet drowned in sorrows. one by one, the instruments faded away as row by row, they disappear into the black dark quiet sea. of cos, the last sound they made was the ringing bells, and they travel and infiltrated every corners of the city, as if the last gust of wind blew across the city, filling it with the sand it carried.

hide and seek

hide and seek, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

this photo reminded me of this beautiful song called "Hide and Seek" by Imogen Heap. its a beautiful song without any instrument. Imogen heap's vocals was only accompanied by a series of manipulated vocals singing in the same melody and lyrics. And these manipulated vocals varies in frequencies and contours, resulting in a series of sound scoping effects. Anyways, its a very simple song with very interesting vocals. lyrics is pretty interesting too...

HIDE AND SEEK:

where are we?
what the hell is going on?
the dust has only just begun to fall
crop circles in the carpet
sinking, feeling

spin me round again
and rub my eyes,
this can't be happening
when busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines
all those years
they were here first

oily marks appear on walls
where pleasure moments hung before the takeover,
the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines (you won't catch me around here)
blood and tears
they were here first

Mmmm what do you say,
Mmmm that you only meant well?
well of course you did
Mmmm what do you say,
Mmmm that's all for the best?
ah of course it is
Mmmm what do you say?
Mmmm that it's just what we need
you decided this
Mmmm what do you say?
Mmmm what did she say?

ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
mid-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
speak no feeling
no I don't believe you
you don't care a bit,
you don't care a bit

(hide and seek)
ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
midsweet talk, newspaper word cut outs

points, lines, and planes

chinatown, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

i find myself being attracted to capture shots of staircase landings since i started picking up photography. it is a very weird thing as there is almost nothing interesting to see in this photo. only a landing, with no humans, no subjects, no movement, no shadows, only and object.
i stared at this photo and tried to recall why did i take this photo. to tell u the truth, i stood on the stairs for quite a while to compose this shot. tried again and again with various exposure settings and different angles.
i thought it was an excercise on composition. composition of the light paths, composition of diagonal lines cutting thru this rectangular canvas, composition of rhythmic structure ( railing, balastrudes and risers from the stairs having this ordered rhythm as it changes direction) and composition of wall planes and its junction with the floor plan.
i particularly like how the railing extends from the right side of the photo, ending at the middle part of it, as it somehow forms the pivot of the photo with things rotating and shifting ard it to form this composition.
sorry for this boring post, but i just wanted to talk abit on my interest in photography. i guess i will talk more about architecture, interior design and urban design so that i will know more about myself. yes, it is for me to know mroe about myself. kinda weird huh...

singapore skyline

what a sky, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

what is the singapore skyline? the first image to come into mind is the skyline we are so familiar with while driving down ECP. The skyline of singapore stretching from the CBD towers to the entertainment/Arts buildings (our durians) is our poster to the world. No one can miss the cluttered and messy skyline, with all the vareity of geometry and scale.
i was wondering what is the skyline of singapore the world should see...and images of qweentowns neighbourhood, hundreds of HDB blocks carefully planted neatly on a flat land, and regular rectangular blocks of selected colour schemes floated around in my mind.
Seriously, the success story of Singapore's public housing is way too understated. If there is something we can be proud of, (unless u think we should be proud of our version of the london eye, our version of sydney opera house, our version of the mandalay casino, our version of (fill in the blanks with things copied from the western world)) , we should be proud of our public housing scheme.
In some ironic way, each apartment in these governemnt built and subsidized houses a.k.a public housing, is owned by the resident staying in there. therefore, bluring the distinct notion of state-owned and private owned properties. In many other countries, public gov housing are those which the residents rent from the gov. In singapore, we stay in the public housing, yet we own them privately. Huh? weird? No. it is not. most singaporeans staying in these public housing do not realize this confusion. FOr most ppl , it is just a house which they have to work their entire life away to pay for.
But again, this system is extremely effective and several public housing in britian used the singapore public housing system as a model.
ANyways, i was just wondering how a system of design can affect lives of singapore staying in public housings. not specifically just the design of the units, but how, from a marco level scale of planning, to a mirco scale of the design of a room, can shape and mould singaporeans into law abiding citizens who take ownership in governemnt properties. You could imagine how singapore run as a extremely complex system of design. from how we enter the neighbourhood, what we see when we enter, how to approach the units, what we see when we leave, what kinda transportation serves the estate, what color scheme, ratio of chinese, malays , indians and other races occupy the level, block, cluster of blocks, estate, town, satellite towns, the country, ....is a form of design that can affect how the entire country runs.
to end off this very useless post which is basically me just thinking out loud, i quote Dr. Ong boon lay, ISNT THIS AMAZING???!!?!??!?

muse in singapore, fort canning

muse in singapore, fort canning, originally uploaded by bigfatbeetle.

test post.

10 things to make my day

1) sipping wine with a couple of close friends in some bar where the music is loud enough just to drown out noises from the crowd, and lighting soft enough just to let me reach out for my wine glass, and getting really comfortable and relaxed

2) discover something new about myself and remembering it.

3) discover something i hate about myself and forgetting about it.

4) make sense of my thoughts and able to straighten things out inside me

5) park my car in sch without having to pay and getting bird-pooed on.

6) to wake up beside diana with her in my arms

7) to have breakfast with diana

8) to be able to sketch out something interesting for that day

9) to be able to laugh at myself

10) do something i seldom do and not suppose to do

2007

Guess what? It took me 30 days to come up with my first 2007 memo. After countless half hearted attempts of trying to write one, i finally jolt myself up to write one before the second month of 2007 begins.
In 2006,

1) I set foot on Cambodia, KL, Penang, Phuket, and Shanghai.
2) Tried drinking shots from a test tube for the first time.
3) Worked in an architecture firm for the first time.
4) Fell in love with anything old , noir-ish , disturbing , blurry, rusty, aged, and chinese.
5) applied for exchange to TU delft, in Holland.
6) entered design competition for the 1st time.
7) felt that i am really aging. ( can't be bother to hide my grey hair anymore )
alot more,..but i cant seems to remember. Its like...2006 became hazy and blurry after awhile.

2007 will be, in some sense, full of anticipation and apprehension. My application for exchange in holland was accepted by NUS, and if nothing goes wrong, i'll be packing my bags and enjoying my Eurotrip by Aug, and start my 1 sem long of architectural education in TU Delft.
having mixed emotions about 2007 now...i cant wait to leave singapore for another country , yet i cant bear to leave my family and diana behind.