Game face

Get my seat up-right, put on my game face and strap myself down secure.

Because tomorrow, it's gonna be a rough ride...



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Random

I prefer walking around the city at night. The cooler atmosphere, the buildings all lit up and al fresco dining and hang out scenes. The only major problem I have is that there SHOULD be more buildings. And more lights.

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Spot On: Snood

Okay, so what exactly is a snood? It's kinda like a cross between a scarf and a hood. It's nothing new actually. Infact, it's an old contraption but a renewed interest is giving them a resurgence.

- Burberry Fall/Winter 2009



- Burberry Fall/Winter 2009

You can call it whatever you like, 'snood', 'circle scarf', 'the lazy-man's scarf'. It's one of the hottest accessories this winter. It's basically a scarf made like a tube, so you just pull it over your head and skip the hassle of trying to tie a knot on a normal scarf and possibly having excess fabric flutter all over your face. And best of all, it's surprisingly chic and dapper.

I personally love these scarves. If I am experiencing winter right now, I'd slip one on over any jacket right now and walk right out the door. I probably appreciate a snood in a heftier material like in a thick knit. I like the chunky-ness and how it feels somewhat oversized and rich and comfortable.

- Chunky and chic.
Burberry Fall/Winter 2009

And it does not only look good on runway models, take a look at these people off the street and how they work this seemingly simple garment into their outfits:

Pictures from Lookbook

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M-shirt

I love the simplicity in this Maison Martin Margiela t-shirt. The 'M' obviously symbolizes the 'M' in the Maison Martin Margiela brandname and yet it can still stand on it's own as a design element. That's called smart designing.

- I love how the blockish 'M' creates the V-neck



- Also available in black.

Interested? Don't bother, it's 300 bucks a pop!

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Anywhere

I wish I could be anywhere but here, underneath cloudless skies.
I wish I could be anything.

Listen to This

I stumbled across this British indie band which I think does a fantastic take on 60's-esque rock music. It's catchy with good vocals, it's got a great retro vibe and it's whimsical. Give it a good listen.

Never Forget You
by The Noisettes

PS: Her hair is batshit crazy awesome.

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In 3D

I spent hours and hours experimenting with Google SketchUp today. I'm finding it quite difficult to maneuver and create forms because it's very much different from 3DS Max which I took a class in last semester. I pretty much still suck at 3D modelling and computer generated renderings, its just way too complicated. Nevertheless, I must try to get a hold of the knowledge. Hell, I must grasp that knowledge, put it into a food processor, blend said knowledge into bits of information and shove it down my own throat and up into my brain. Well technically it can't reach my brain through my throat, BUT YOU GET THE POINT!

Anyways, this is the experimental 3D model for the first assignment of Studio earlier in the semester. It's a group effort and we were proposing a sculptural entrance to KL's underground railway line (KTM). So imagine if you will, an underground train station with its tracks and trains. And above ground, there would be a sprawling park with these entrances scattered throughout.

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Zaha Hadid, Why you do this to me?!

Rewind a few months back and I was still happily trotting down Millennium Park in downtown Chicago. And my visit there happened to be in conjunction with the beginning of the Burnham Pavilion exhibit where architects Ben Van Berkel (of UN Studio) and Zaha Hadid put on display a sculptural pavilion which was supposed to run from late July to sometime in October if I'm not totaly mistaken. I managed to molest catch a glimpse of the one by Ben Van Berkel:

- Ben Van Berkel's Burnham Pavilion



- under the undulating structure

But the one by Zaha Hadid was unfinished and unfortunately delayed for so long that I didn't manage to see it. I only saw it while it was still in it's construction phase:

- Still under construction: curved steel tubes create the structure



- Synthetic fabrics stretched over the skeletal steel frame

And now, the thing is like totally done. Not only is it finished, it's mysteriously attractive and just tugs at my curiosity begging me to explore the structure. Its synthetic fabric-like skin stretched over an organic steel frame of confusing dimensions. Oh, why did I miss this:

 

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Snapshot: PJ

12:41am | Federal Highway/LDP Intersection, PJ

Heavy traffic at midnight on a Tuesday. Probably something you don't really see in Penang.


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Listen to This

Finally a Jay-Z Song I love.

Empire State of Mind
by Jay-Z feat. Alicia Keys

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Spot On: Combat Boots

- Sleek black leather boots with a back zipper.
Zara Fall/Winter 2009

The next shoe that I'm planning to buy would probably be a pair boots coz boots are kinda peaking my interest. Preferably boots made from black leather, cut high and laced. Like Combat Boots. They have this weatherproof feel to them as though you can wear them on the street, in the jungle , in the rain, at the beach and you get what I mean.

I can imagine wearing an all black outfit with these boots, taking large strides in the rain along the puddled alley way that is lit only by a single street lamp. It's the middle of the night and the only sounds are that of the thrashing of rain and wind against the metal dumpster. As I walk further down the lane towards my destination, I leave the eerie glow of the street lamp behind me. With each stride I plunge into greater darkness. I turn a corner and an iridescent glow of yellow and red await at the end of another alley.

I walk even faster now, running almost. My boots hitting the ground with a splash every step of the way. But I fear not for they are (hopefully) waterproof. As I reach the end of it, I am confronted with a blinding light. I peer through my rain soaked eyelids: Two golden arches of monumental scale. The mother of all logos. THE M......Mcdonalds.

Okay fine, MAYBE It's pathetic that I SOMETIMES go for midnight burger runs. And MAYBE it's stupid that I SOMETIMES still enjoy running in the rain. But hey, I just painted a pretty picture there and It's all just because of a pair of boots.

- Combat boots as seen on the runway of Dior Homme Fall/Winter 07/08



- Dior Homme Fall/Winter 07/08



- Boots by Tim Hamilton



- Doc Martens are also a viable option.



- Boots from the current collection available at Zara.
Zara Fall/Winter 2009



- A really handsome pair of brown leather boots that I wish to own if I had the cash. RM 500, bloody mad.
Zara Fall/Winter 2009

So yeah, I do want boots. Probably not when I'm in Malaysia. In the future perhaps. And I can have more time to weigh in whether to get combat boots or boots of some other kind.

Stay tuned for more.

Summer

I'm obsessed with summer. The sun shining brightly, vegetation thriving, warm sand on your feet and sunglasses perched precariously on my face. I always think of doing all sorts of activities when I go back to Penang. I want to have a lazy afternoon by the shore, a walk around Georgetown, cycling in Pulau Tikus or brunch at noon in an alfresco cafe.

But in the end I find myself not doing most of them. Not everything turns out the way I want it to because over the months in KL, I've painted this perfect setting of how things are supposed to turn out. They mostly fail. Sometimes it's the temperemental weather, conflicting schedules, friends who aren't willing to commit or even money issues. And the realization that brunch at noon in an alfresco cafe would just give me a heat stroke.

So, I'm not entirely obsessed with summer. I'm only obsessed with the IDEA of summer. I've deduced that it's my form of escapism in college.

PS: I DO know it's summer here 24/7 365.


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Painful to watch

So, yesterday was my Studio internal crit and that explains why over the past week I've been so frazzled and occupied and just oh-so-busy. I've been having late nights and am now sleep deprived. I consider food as that stuff that keeps me going instead of pure bliss like I normally do. Architectural ideas and drawings are all that I constantly see in my mind's eye. And I LITERALLY SLEPT ON MY DRAWINGS AND MODELS. I mean I woke up yesterday and found myself in my bed surrounded and I MEAN SURROUNDED by pieces of crumpled and rolled paper, massing models, scraps, paper bags and an array of stationary. It was just insane. I've never felt trashier than ever.

And to make matters worse. The crit didn't go well at all. During the presentations, the words that left the lecturer's lips include 'awful', 'painful to watch', 'utterly horrible', 'really really bad' , 'worse' and 'terrible'. It was a bloodbath that left us all soaked in despair.

But I know that I've got to just suck it up and do what I need to do to get things done for the external crit which be at the end of the month.


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Urghhh

Why god...WHY!


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