Pictures Galore

So i'm here again. Been pretty bust this week with one particular assignment which has kept me boggled throughout the week. We were given an art assignment where we were required to produce three pieces of A5 sized paintings which are to be inspired and influenced by an art piece of our choice from the 20th Century. I look into a variety of masterpieces from Cubist to De Stilj paintings. In the end, as I was sifting through a couple of the works, I stumbled upon the work of Andy Warhol. In the end I chose his 'Marilyns' silk screened piece from 1967.

- Warhol's 'Marilyns' (1967)

So with the help of Sophia, I took portrait pictures of myself (it's not vanity! It's for my assignment!) And with the help of Yong Ming, edited the pictures and finally I made stencils outta them and stencilled my face over three pieces of A5 paper. The submission date is today but I completed it yesterday...this was the first time that I was so completely relaxed during a submission date! I swear it's like the best feeling! Here's how it looks like:

- Justin's 'Justins' (2007)

It was alright. But I expected it to be much better though. One problem I faced during production was that the poster paint tended to seep underneath the stencil thus smearing the paint. If you think that the three paintings are different, that's because they are. I made three seperate stencils, one which was normal, one with googlie eyes, and one with huge nostrils. We had to state the symbolism and significance of the painting to us, stuff like: 'Brown connotes nature and sybolizes my love for the natural environment' or 'The nose is greatly exxagerated using cubist art influences and is painted red which signifies my anger and hatred towards the size and shape of my nose' or even 'The eyes are enlarged twice the original size to highlight my facial feature I like the most.' Anyways, i'm quite satisfied with the result.

I have a couple of assignments yet to be done, my journal and another one involving composing lyrics (don't ask). And there is also my Building Materials Mid-Terms this Monday. Yikes! AND also I have my paper clay columns to paint for the Hilton Train Project. See how busy I am?!

As some of you people know i've been going around this past month to museums, art galleries, lake gardens and going back and forth KL and Penang and obviously i've taken quite a number of photos. Infact, now I have 4.7 GB worth of photos. About half of that is from the pictures I took since the start of this course! So, i'm posting up some of the photos from the past month. Enjoy!

+ National Art Gallery

I visited the National Art Gallery as one of the site visits for my Introduction to Design class. This was connected to the art assignment I mentioned above (You see, for each lecture, usually there is a site visit relevant to that week's lecture topic). There were no entrance fees and we were allowed to snap pictures inside! So here they are:

- Art pieces.

- I hate clowns (Is it just me or do I look like i'm part of the painting?).

- One of the pieces I admired. It's actually three pieces which are seperate but somehow seem interconnected.

- Jon & Sophia browsing the photograph exhibit.

- Me, pretending to be taking notes as the lecturer passed by.

When we were on board the bus travelling back to college, I spotted this on the road close to the Midvalley mall:

- A HUGE ASS yoghurt drink bottle bigger that a car! Damn!

+ Discovering Penang

Lately, during my occasional trips back to Penang, I tend to go on little outings to places i've either never been to or never really appreciated prior starting this architecture course. Some of the places I went include:

- That's Al with Penang's beautiful cityscape in the background.

This post is getting a bit long, so I guess i'll post more stuff next time. Until then!

PS: Yes, I changed my header...

The Puasa Month

I know I haven't blogged in a while [bad Justin] but it's only because i've really been caught up with my assignments. You know, I feel like they're snowballing now. The lecturers just keep hurling it at us and we have to whack it right back at them! I still have a few assignments to complete and I seriously need to manage my time properly.

Anyways, I just wanna say that I love the Puasa month! Well, I didn't realize I would like it this much until now. Why do I like it you ask? Okay firstly, classes end half an hour earlier in the month of Ramadhan. Well, that's coz the students and teachers who are fasting need to prepare and rest, don't they? Then, there is the awesome food! Street food that is. All the pasar malam food stalls are selling an array of good food this time of year. You get your briyani, your rendang, your nasi tomato, your this and that...there's a whole lot of food out there which I haven't even tried before! Plus, restaurants and food outlets also have special Ramadhan sets which are quite worth it sometimes.

Also, I just realised today that during the fasting month, the amount of people riding the KTM significantly abated when it comes time to buka Puasa. Yeah, I went to KLCC today to check out some stuff and to have lunch and dinner there. And as I was headin' back at around 8:30pm, the amount of people in the LRT and KTM were less than ordinary. Normally, at that time, I would get sandwiched so tight that I feel like i've become beef jerky! I despise the amount of people in KL and the inefficiency of the public transports.

But as I was saying, I love the month of Ramadhan!

- Sophia, Pam, Jon and I after we buka Puasa-ed at the Curve last Friday

As I mentioned above, I went to KLCC. I went there to browse some of the books in Kinokuniya and also some magazines (I got my Nylon: Guys and Men's Folio!!). I couldn't find the books I needed to do my research essay in the college library, so I thought of headin' to bookstores and doin' some reading there. I wish there are more books in the library. But anyhow, I enjoyed myself going to KLCC. And if you're wondering, NO I DID NOT DO ANY SHOPPING THERE! The mega sales are already over, to my dismay and to my parents' delight. The only things I spent on besides transport is on the magazines and food. I guess that's all my brain can churn out for now.



+ EXTRA

*LISTEN TO THIS*

"Starz In Their Eyes"
by Just Jack
from the album "Overtones"

I heard this song while YouTubing around the other day and I loved it. Absolutely brilliant! It's catchy and somehow I liked the monotonous-ness of it. This song has a groovy, cat-walky feel to it. Here's the video:

PS: I'll be back in Penang for the weekend. I might be busy though...

Worried

Today our Design Communications class lecturer, Mr. Keith, informed us that the course with the highest suicide rate in the UK is Architecture...i'm worried.

Damn, it's hot today!

One foot in front of the other, I paced. Swearing under my breath as I go. My pace quickens with each step forward. The damned sun above casting heat down on me. Stinging. Searing. Scorching my bare skin. The shade of a tree offered a temporary relief from the hot spell. But it passes all too soon.

Little kids scuffled along the pavement, heads lowered to avoid the rays. They headed in the opposite direction. The messenger bag on my shoulder briefly slips. But I caught it in time. I continue to lug the burden along. Inch by inch. Step by step.

The monolith looms ahead. Drawing closer. My feet left the pavement as I crossed a narrow lane. No one in sight. Just me and the still warm air. No wind. No breeze. Nothing. Only the sound of my shoes scraping against the asphalt.

Suddenly, the heat abated, the sunlight waned. I stopped and looked up. The shadow of the building is now upon me. The searing diminished. Leaving only a redness on my skin as a reminder of the scorching pain present just moments earlier. I started to pace again, but this time of a lesser speed, heading to the designated lecture room for my Building Materials class. For the rest of the day all I thought was 'Damn, it's hot today!'

My weekend

My internet connection was down for the past three days. And living without it was horrific. Just imagine: No e-mail updates, No instant messaging, No YouTubing and No blogging! Utter madness!!! The breakdown of the internet connection system really made me realise just how addicted dependent i've become on the net and computer and how big a part it is in my life.

Anyway, it finally got fixed just a few hours ago but we (as in us housemates) had to seek help. And worst of all...WE HAD TO BLOODY PAY THE DAMN FELLA MONEY FOR HIS BARELY-CAN-BE-CONSIDERED SERVICE!!! I mean, he practically knows this stuff off the back off his hand and he has to charge us like forty something bucks for resetting the system. Urghhh...it's all about the money in KL isn't it?

So, last Saturday, Sophia, Jon and I headed over to the National Museum in KL to sought some information for our Malaysian Studies assignment. I know we can probably get the same info off the net but...what fun would it be then? ;) So, we went there just to have a look at the place and of course to take photos of the building, Jon, the displays featured, Jon, the artifacts, Jon and more pictures of Jon. I'm kidding Jon...just kidding.

The day went by pretty quickly. We toured all of the main building and got some relevent information from the place. Now, the good thing about the place is that the entrance fee is just 2 ringgit and also, photography is permitted inside. But the downside...it's undergoing renovation and upgrading currently so you might wanna wait it out. But the newly refurbished part looks better and more up-to-date.

- the facade

- new displays

- a crime scene in the museum

- pretending to be statues

- now you know how the jumping shots are made...

- just gazing

- I wonder what's she looking at?

- funny random pic

- Jon, Sophia and me

After the museum tour, I went to meet up with my family to celebrate our dad's birthday. (Thanks to Jon for fetching me all the way to Sri Hartamas and saving me the trouble. I know it's pretty far and outta your way but I appreciate it.) My parents decided to go to Starhill Gallery for the dinner celebration. Usually we would eat at Sentidos Tapas but this time, we wanted to try other restaurants so we chose the Luk Yu Tea House Chinese Restaurant. The place was good. I really liked the steamed cod fish there. To view my full review of the place, click here.

- starstruck...the captivating lighting at Starhill

On Sunday, I hung out a bit more with my family before they returned to Penang and my sis to S'ban. We went to 1-Utama and then followed by the Curve which had SOOO many freakin' people it took us like FOREVER to find a parking spot and it wasn't even a proper parking spot! But what REALLY made my day was our tea time at this food outlet called 'the apartment' which served pretty good food. I had a bowl of mussels and all of us had desserts which were quite alright. But what I liked apart from the food was the atmosphere. It had this really relaxed feel to it. I've gotta go back there some other time.

That basically sums up my weekend. But once again...HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

- mom & dad

Reflection

This week saw the expected allocations and due dates of assignments. And as usual, us students grunted heavily. Our seniors have forewarned us about the heavy workload and sleepless nights ahead. It's been two months since I ventured into this course and already I had one nearly sleepless nights. I've gotta shed the procrastinator in me

So far, I find the Design Communications and English classes to be the difficult ones. Design Communications involve technical drawings which i've got no experiance in. But so far, i'm coping. A lot of measurements and simple geometry. The English class is more advanced where i'm required to do 2000 word research papers and analysing texts regarding architecture. Earlier this week, I had to do an impromptu speech and I was given the title "Someone I look up to..." I chose my sister. Although, I must say, it's been a while since giving a speech and worse, to give one to a group of strangers was numbing. But thank heavens I didn't choke up. I hope I did alright

With so many assignments and projects, I do feel tired at times. Sometimes during class. Sometimes in the hostel. That's when my laziness strikes and I feel like sleeping the hours one by one away

-I can see that some of my friends are tired too. College life ain't no piece of cake.

Our seniors usually advise us to stay on top of our game. To maintain our GPA and stuff like that. It's inspiring to see how far they've gone and yet, intimidating. I truly wonder how far am I gonna go in this course. I hope i'll be able to achieve something for myself.

Malacca Pictures Delivery

Finally, here are the long overdue Malacca pictures. Now, there are like about a few hundred pictures taken throughout the trip, so these are the ones I wanna show. Let's let them do the talking:

- I like this picture of the roof and flag pole.

- I was unaware when Sophia took this picture. But I kinda like it...

- One of my favourite pictures of the trip

- A "hands on" experiance of Christ Church, Malacca




- Unleashing the inner child

-Group photo

- My favourite jumping shot

3 reviews

Here are the reviews for the three movies I watched last last week during my holidays. I did ALOT of stuff while back in Penang during my holidays and I obviously can't post them all up. So i'll include some of the outing details into each individual movie review.

+Evan Almighty

So I watched Evan Almighty with Jeff, Damien and a bunch of their high school friends. I haven't seen Damien in ages and I wonder when's the next time we'll ever meet again. They originally wanted to watch some other movie but as fate would have it, the other movie was sold out. So this was like THE only available one that had the best showtime.

The movie was okay. It's got the humour, and slapstick jokes. But honestly, I think I prefer Bruce Almighty. Although both Jim Carrey and Steve Carell are both excellent comedians, I think the storyline in Bruce Almighty is more appealing to me. But this sequel is still worth the watch.

The day before, I had dinner with Jeff and Al. Indian food...our regular place. I love indian food. thosai, masala, banana leaf rice...you name it. We had a good time. Good food, good conversation, good company...ahh the good old times. I hope i'll still be able to do this next time.

+ Ratatouille

This movie I watched with the INTI group. Khang May, Jeremy, Mei Zhi, Lee Xin and Loo Hoang. We went out just to meet up with Khang May who is home for the holidays all the way from India. But she's gone back now. I haven't had an outing like this since last year. We talked and talked and continued to talk all day. Ya know it's always nice to catch up with friends once in a while. So much has changed since the INTI days. Everyone of my friends are leaving the country soon.

Back to the movie, Ratatouille was GREEEEAAAAAT!!! I call it BEST ANIMATED MOVIE OF THE YEAR. The plot was great, the animation was spectacular, the characters were also perfect. Remy the rat in particular was totaly cute and likable. And his passion for food was inspiring! Damn I wish my hostel had proper kitchen equiptment. I miss cooking!

+ Rush Hour 3

Zhi Xiang watched this one with me. We had our usual crazy day out filled with lame and stupid jokes, acting nutsy, and just having a damn jolly good time. Damn I missed our Friday outings. Oh yeah, and I thought him how to freak out when driving to relieve tension while driving. Not everyone can appreciate a good freak out.

Anyways, Rush Hour 3 was alright. In my opinion, if the movie was not set in Paris, I think it would have flopped. It's still your usual fancy kick-butt action, witty remarks and comebacks and alot more of Chris Tucker's slightly irritating voice. But I guess there's a little bit more of butt-kicking action in this third installment (it really is the year of the sequels isn't it?). I liked Yvan Attal's character, George (the cabdriver). I wish they would expand his part in the movie. So I guess this movie did not completely sucked. If you wish to catch a weekend movie, this is the one.

*Coming Up Next: My Delayed Malacca Photos...finally!