Growing up with Son Goku

It's been a long journey.
I've slowly outgrown the phase in my life where it revolved around mangas, anime and anything japanese.
This may be a silly thing to declare. But i'm glad i finally concluded reading/watching the dragonball series. It only took me ..what...close to 20 years to do it?
To be honest, it feels good. Feels like that's the end of my childhood (call me slow. whatever)
Time to move on. Time to dive into the real world. the Working world.

See you on the other side? :)

the one that didn't make the cut.

It's been an entire month since the final final FINAL presentation of my student life.
Result's been out an entire week and although there are many things that i know could have been done better (trust me i'm never satisfied), to be able to pull things off in that final 10 days, is just an amazing feeling! so much drama you would not believe it!...and to be surrounded by amazing people who were willing to share their knowledge, time and skills...i'll miss those moments the most i bet.

The render above did not make it into the panel due to insufficient space (the restrictions/limitations on the panel layout/size bordered on ridiculous)

Suddenly i feel like i've grown a whole lot since my undergrad years. In just over two weeks i shall be graduating and can call myself (at long last) a graduate architect.

Finally started to get a move on that 'job-search-portfolio'....last night :P

Wish me luck!

Now you tell me?!

and no...the fact that this has floating trees and people is not why the scheme is scrapped.
wishing that i'm superhuman and can survive without sleep :(

note: this is not my presentation board. haha. this. is. stress.

spares

Just cos things break down way too easily. i find myself always having spares of most everything.
But it's come to a point where it borders on ridiculous.
in my workstation, i now have :
3 desks
2 desktops (need to wait for a car to help me transport the broken one)
3 keyboards?!?!?!

a wall of books/magazines.

i should stop this habit of bringing everything over to uni. or i'd have to open up shop soon :P

well, in my defence my wifi keyboard fails to perform when it gets really cold. and tonight i really thought it was acting up again. little did i know that photoshop totally kills my escape function. can you imagine doing CAD with NO esc button?

the love/hate relationship

If you haven't already heard, my desktop pc died.for the 4th time since i had it shipped over to tassie back in may 2010.
And it chose to die at the most 'convenient' moment. right when i was about to save the 4th and final board for my third presentation this semester.
People always say "Look at the bright side". To put it that way, i guess i am lucky. cos the presentation was not assessed. I just risk making a fool of myself if i came in empty handed presenting to this architect who's a director at one of melbourne's top archi firms.

So, although i had to scrap my plan to have an early night's rest, i slaved the night away for that last board and managed to stun him (good and bad) with my 'beast' of an idea. He has these expectations in his head. and now....i just know i won't be able to live up to it. how ironic.

Anyway, back to the point....i made the jump to splurge on a new workstation. SPLURGE is the right word. noone in their right mind goes about getting a new set-up 5 weeks away from the end. When people were enjoying the weekend, i was busy pc shopping...and installing...and 3 days later....i'm finally all set to go! :)

Don't get me wrong. I'm not rich. far from it. but if the old desktop just decides to die again (and at the 'right' moment at that), having to postpone my graduation would be a true nightmare!

Will update my progress when i think i've made significant ones. heh.

My 'PRODUCTIVE' space

And yes....cos i'm obviously being unproductive, i decided to introduce to the world (drum-roll please....) my studio workstation! ha.

So today was the weekly meet with supervisor. and since i couldn't tolerate having to sketch, CAD and do physical model on one table...i grabbed ANOTHER table (poor technician had to waste at least 30 mins of his life to 'entertain' me). haha. and it's 7 weeks before uni ends for good. I feel so at home now. yet it's almost over. *sigh*

and yes. i should be panicking right about now. since it is. 7. weeks. AWAY. gosh.

A delay doubles the Celebration!

We in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (,Earth?) had our Eid Celebration a day later than our Malaysian counterparts.

It was quite disheartening at first because you know your loved ones are already engaging in the annual meet ups and whatnots while you're at home, wishing them "Happy Hari Raya!" over the phone.

So we ended up having a double celebration on the 31st of August 2011 : Eid and our nation's (...th) independence day! haha. at about this moment i can't exactly be bothered to do the calculations.

And yes, that's why we had malaysian flags as part of the decor.and that is also why we were all dressed up. Come to think of it. It wasn't all bad. Cos there were lots of people, food, and that...leads to a whole bunch of 'side' entertainment. Plus. noone ever dresses up for merdeka. well..definitely not me. So this made the combo even more effective!

I seldom dress up. Well...i used to...for presentations...but that is a rare occurrence especially in this final semester, that most people didn't recognize me. Wonder if that's actually a good/bad thing haha. At least 5 people said to my face "whoa. i didn't know that was you!" or "i looked carefully at your face and then remembered...ooooh i know you!" i must be that much of a hermit hey! Don't get all concerned for me now. Those people were all just acquaintances...not really the uni students whom i meet AAALLLL the time :P

To all my dear readers/stalkers ...i wish you a Selamat Hari Raya!

please forgive me if i ever wronged you....or if i managed to cause uneasiness due to the permanent frown i have stuck on my face :P

no idea

The wind's getting a bit rough outside. and i'm starting to get freaked out (slightly).

Time for bed. Feeling so uninspired. I have nooo idea why.

Time flies.

And tomorrow marks the beginning of week 7. How time flies!

I've been frustrated with my desktop being incapable of installing vray for sketchup.

so i decided to use rhino.again. haha. and the first thing i played around with was...

'bricklaying' the whole CBD! haha. it is sunday afterall. serious work can wait till tomorrow!

Lots of work. yup. Challenging cos the site's not my 'turf'. but this could very well be the last time i get to challenge myself.

The bones of it are there (so he says) What comes next is making it Exciting!

Woohoo!...? haha.

If at first you don't succeed...

...Try, try again...

The scribbles were done using the same pen.

I made the silliest mistake of leaving my 0.2 artline uncapped before i went home for the night, buried under a stash of trace.

Thought to myself : " Oh there goes another pen down the drain"

Amazingly enough, the pen wasn't dead.

But looking at the pen markings side by side, somewhat relates to the process of planning which i'm currently in?

They look similar, but different (better even) . I've been stuck on doing plans for my tiny building for two days now. I think i've got it resolved (fingers crossed) but we'll see.

I love my project. I love it so much i wanna do so much more with it. That it borders on being physically impossible. Whoever said designing with constraints is easy?

The problem with having great ideas?

Is that you risk your building not living up to that expectation.

Oh the irony.

we're all kids at heart

http://www.acmi.net.au/timeslice/Timeslice.htm?file=ts-20110708-0c2658dab3476e0056d0b637223c5b71.flv

turning point

Stumbled upon this while going through my old files on the desktop.
This was my 3rd year project:
The project that made me hear the word 'failure' more times than i would care to recall.
The project that seriously made me question whether architecture was really for me.
The project that made me re-think decisions about my surrounding.

But looking back, i don't regret one bit of it.
Yes, definitely, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. Not even now. But every step i've taken has helped shape me, to prepare me for challenges that had i remained in that protective bubble i call 'home', i'd just get stuck.

The Beginning of the End?

This is it folks. THE final semester of architecture studies. and already reaching the end of the 4th week!
Time flies. and it hit me that i should prolly at least post some photos of what im doing. silly stuff and whatnots. cos later on, what's there to look back on?

The project :


The Site :
Project Development Duration : 15 Weeks (wish me luck!)


It's been so long since i did any sort of serious model making. So in an attempt to hide the ugly mess of a site model i laser-ed...i stuffed it under my table and took a very unsightly photo of it. u can blame the low light thing. or even say it's the model's fault :P


We had an unassessed presentation in week 2 itself. and since i didn't produce any drawings (yep. i pretty much did most of the drawings in rhino. which led to the tutors asking,"do you draw?" and even giving suggestions of "playing around with quick rough physical models").
So just to prove a point, i did a whole bunch of sketching (for ideas) and came up with this one massing which represents the strengths of the 3 schemes presented.

It might just be my mental state at the time. but i thought the massing spelt "F U".



You be the judge. haha.


This photo of last year's junction art's festival here in launnie somehow gives me the motivation to do what im doing now. Photos. Arts. They make people (me) happy :)


Some quick diagrams that basically form the 'bone' of my architecture for the coming 10 weeks or so. Will see how it develops after tomorrow's tute.


It's little things like this that make my day. Going to uni. and having sushi kindly provided by a friend. ok. back to work!

Living in the present...

this was taken in 2004! back when having a 35mm film camera was a huge deal for me.

I take photos. That's what I do.
The lens becomes the way of recording my life.
Or rather, what happens around me, the people that have made a presence in my life.
I've always made it a point to blog/write about things. Mostly, about how i feel at that particular time.
It then becomes a painful reminder. That people come and go. That things never stay the same.
Going through folder after folder of photos, i'm reminded of who i was / how i changed by being in that moment.
Scared. Daring. Outgoing. Shy. Been there. done that.
Maybe it's the age thing.
Maybe cos this may very well be the final semester of being a student.
And the prospect of facing yet another change frightens me.
But life recently has not given me reason to complain.
So i guess, for now, stop thinking bout the past, or what could be...and just...
live in the present?

Like the house of cards. Without knowing when it'd crumble, you build it up anyway.
That's the whole point of it isn't it? The fun in not knowing.

2 minute break from hell

Just thought i should at least have a post in the month of may.
Haven't actually anything positive to speak about, as submission dates come zooming by.
This may very well be the moment in life where i think i can't possibly get any dumber (but it does feel like it)
Can't wait to be travelling again. Don't get me wrong, i love uni. Just don't particularly like the 'self-directed research' part (and suddenly being thrown in a state of confusion). Honestly not a very good place to be in.

SUCK. IT.UP.

who knows, maybe i'll just replace this entire post with something more positivo after everything's all done . ha.

60 Hours + 5 ...let's have a ball!

What can one accomplish in 60 hours?
Design Studio Assessment task 2 (According to the brief)
But so much more happened between accumulating those endless hours of iterations ;having a go at the 'sets' thinking and after submission.

So, let's see...
1. finally resigned from the part time job (should have given me more free time, so i thought)

2. at least 10% of the time was wasted on fixing the desktop which just decided to fail on me countless times this semester (which is ironic seeing that it was my life-saver when i started 4th year)

3. Got the desktop to run. Didn't have enough guts to do actual work with it. Turned it into the YOUTUBE /entertainment screen while i CAD-ed away. Not too shabby i reckon.

4. Time to scrap that good girl image. weellll...with the campus security folks anyway? To cut a long story short, lost track of time, overstayed in uni by 15 minutes, got stopped by security (on our way out!), got student ID confiscated by security guy who was clearly sleeping cos he didn't bother to make rounds till quarter past midnite. Thought "ah well, i still have my access card, work shouldn't be affected"....boy was i WRONG! and on the Sunday which was supposed to be a really productive 10-hour(minimum) production time, after only about 1 hour of being in skool, a different security guy came and asked for ID!
For a short while, regretted having told him a white lie that i left the ID at home (only produced my access card) but then felt relieved as my friend who told the truth then got his access card confiscated too! who said it pays to be honest? ha.
It was like the unfolding of a real live drama :
Friend just standing outside the campus building, security guy staying in his car shouting out "Don't you come back in, we have cameras!" and of course, in retaliation, some profanities were exchanged (not from me tho). I was just laughing the whole time! highly entertaining in retrospect. The other friend even pretended to run back to school to see if security would turn his vehicle around just to stop us.
Total hours for Sunday? Less than 5! :(
Monday morning was then spent on a wild goose chase. Noone knew who kept our cards. Forced self not to think too much about it (without the ID, needed to get as much work done as possible by 5.30pm). Was later approached by my lecturer. And she had my ID with her. who knew. Managed to not only surprise her with our 'stunt' but also the regular security lady who said "never expected you to be in that kinda trouble young lady~"

Ok. so if you've managed to read through that 'summary' of mine, i survived the 'ordeal' with the studio coordinator presenting us with a 5 hour extension. the 5 hour which i was able to sleep peacefully the night before submission :P

It was then time to party. ARCHIBALL. The bi-annual event organized by the architecture students. i actually bought the ticket to attend even though im not really big on costume parties. since i only had 1 hour to whip up something for the event, had a moment to myself and thought "what is lying around the house, in abundance?"
At first, garbage bags crossed my mind. But din wan to come across as trash.
Next best thing? Bubble wrap! all those parcels dear mum sent really came in handy.
Mind you, i may be doing architecture, but never was good at needlework/patchwork.
Bubble wrap was turned into...
a shoddy attempt at vest-making XD which by the way became a hit literally with people trying to pop the bubbles constantly. On the plus side? it was a cold night, but the bubbles were providing sufficient warmth.

All in all...it's been good, interesting somewhat.
Easter break is on. Work can wait :)

Stairs and steps, no thanks

Recently been doing a hell lot of reading (or i'd love to believe that's the reason for my mental exhaustion) especially on Gehl's stuff.

Came across this bit on how when it comes to stairs and steps, people would naturally ask or shout out if someone else would answer the phone when there's a call so that they wouldn't have to go do it themselves.

Ah,... brings back memories....of how we used to have this one phone at home located on the landing between the flight of stairs.....and we would just let it ring forever, and finally after the 10th ring or so, only will there be a reluctant "i'll get it!" from someone :)

Now you know why it took that long.

Thank god for mobile phones eh~!

make me proud.

today i took a leap of faith.
there are still matters unsettled. well maybe it is settled but my mind just can't stop thinking of worst case scenarios when i did not get the final confirmation details as promised.
why can't people have the cake and eat it at the same time?
why can't i be the kinda person who goes through life without worrying about the 'what-ifs'
laid back. tried that approach for years. nope. still unsuccessful :(

and that would have been the last...

I live to see another day.
who would have thought that of all freak accidents, it could happen in your own room, and less than a metre away from your head?
By that i meant my room's light bulb which decided to just unhook itself and drop 2.5 m to the ground.
Thank god i've cleared most of my room up.
Thank god i was not directly under the lamp when it happened.
Thank god the fin heater was 10cm away from the line of fire.
Thank god my room is carpeted and the bulb didn't break into a gazillion pieces (excuse my exaggeration here please)

I don't usually make it a habit to say so many 'thank gods' in a single post. but i think the recent event warrants it.
had it happened 5 mins earlier, i would have been able to add to my 'stitches-on-face' collection.
and with no-one around, i shudder to think what my next action (or inaction) would have been.

and there i was, earlier today, worrying about whether i could perform for my final year (still blur with dissertation and whatnots) Let's just say, I overthink things at times (well, people say i do it ALL the time haha)

Now i realize anything can happen. I should be grateful that i've been offered the opportunity. It'll be tough...but what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger....
so ... Come February! we shall see whether the 2 week stint makes or breaks me :)