Thinking without pants

line work studies...

2012-02-12T04:08:00.000-08:00

...of a very old car.

47 year old beetle.

what camera?

doesn't matter!

it's a love affair.

2012-01-28T05:27:00.000-08:00

Hitler to Porsche: "Thou shalt build a people carrier..."
Porsche to Hitler. "...job's done, may I go racing now?"

Let's talk about cars for once. I've always loved porsches. Even before i was one year old, dad took a photo of me crawling on the floor with a Porsche 935 "whale tail" at the side of me along with the donald duck and goofy.

Not that i know what it was back then. When i was 3-4 ish my mom had a pair of jeans from Bavarian Motor Werks (yes, they make jeans then not sure about now) and instantly i pointed to her bum and said "car... car..." subsequently she bought a book with car logos and educated me how to recognize the brands. When i was about 8, i could recognize a Proton Saga next the my family car that looked abit odd - that's because the rear suspension has been heightened, while the front has been lowered to give it a stance. It also had a long antenna 3 times the height of the car (somewhat). I soon realised not all cars are the same - each and everyone of them had a character. The observant character in me eventually went crazy over them...

Motoring (a singaporean publication) was my first car magazine. Dad got it off the shelve because i wanted it so badly. I still have it of course because inside that first issue there was a tear-off sheet for subscription. I filled it in and begggged long and hard for my dad to afford a year's subscription. Publisher made a mistake and i got three year's worth for the price of one! ^___^

Hobbies are an existential thing i suppose. Motoring stopped fulfilling my craze long before the subscription ended. I moved on to saving up every penny i had to buy Performance Car - another british publication that soon ended because well.. perhaps they were too good and so un-commercial that led to their demise. I have a cousin who modded his cars, and we got into Japanese GTRs and Supras, together with RX-7s but that's another story for another day.

My first and rightfully bought car (with own money of course) was a 1977 Mini in bright orange. Friends texted me while i passed through a junctions in melbourne just to tell me they saw me (haha! Thanks Syaz!) and that fun heaps of fun. A quarter turn of the steering wheel mean i could take a corner with all for tyres neutral steering through a 90degree corner with ease. Too bad i needed bucket seats to prevent me sliding off while holding on to the wheel. Hehe... The mini was a car that i could adjust my brake balance, self-service, clear the air filter myself. cheap to run, great on highways. 100kmh without choking.

Since then i do wonder if the next car will provide that much fun any more. You see, what separates the road and yours truly in the Mini was just a sheet of metal. The metal was everything - shell, door, roof, etc with nothing in between. Modern cars have a layer of insulation, airbag (useful), radio, cushions, padding, leather and much more in between. You can't fix it once broken. I could unlock my own mini door if i forgot the keys. Try that with a 00s BMW. So, to push that threshold, i'm setting my sights on a Porsche as a next car. It may be long before i could afford one particularly a '73 slim nose 911s with a 915 H-pattern 'box would be ideal.

Who knows, i could even hunt for a '73 RS if i waited and am patient enough. And a 356A/C for the lady in navy blue. I am aiming for both. In between the two, i'll have a 911s to butcher (nicely) and it it up for track days... It will come true shortly i'm sure. Let that be another story for another day.

mittelformat.

2012-01-22T03:29:00.000-08:00

2010 February as i dropped off my CV at Atsushi Kitagawara's office i took a stroll around the neighbourhood. I think it was Kitagawara's office, or.. it could be Norihiko Dan - I can't be sure.

As the sky was getting dark, i found this. Took 2 shots and off i went. The first shot had a mild hand shake so it was noticable ( velvia on iso 50 or 100, 1/15 at a large 5.6) on my trusty cracked, taped and stickered Mamiya 6.

Glad i did two shots. This is the second one.

Enjoy.

cooking porridge.

2012-01-14T06:00:00.000-08:00

i hope she feels better after eating...

change.

2012-01-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

i can't sleep tonight, probably because of the double shot cafe latte i had this afternoon.

Leaving Japan with a slight mix of feelings that things are about to change very drastically this year, and even more so when 'i saw it coming, and went for it' since 2010. This journey of change has done nothing but gaining evermore speed.

Just a conversation with my dad changed the whole ball park about growing up. And another recent conversation with my previous boss sparked a lot more thoughts (how) to grow up professionally. Yori and I left Yokohama after walking the (very) drunk ex-boss home, making sure he stops for lights and taxis don't meet his knees. He gave us a presentation of his neighbourhood, on where the tsunami hit last, where are the slots to insert tsunami barriers, where is the line that demarcates landfill, and the original land... Him and his Messrs too said a few personal things to me that matches with their alcohol/non-alcohol influence of consciousness.

Seriously good singer, if not great.

A visit to Fussa City Hall sealed my wishes of making buildings as great as that in everywhere i choose to set foot on... I mean, it is just so difficult to make something good, let alone great. This guy with his employees are fighting everyday, struggling everyday to achieve a better end-result. At the time of quitting the company, i found it too intense for me to accept (and the preparation for some extra-curricular activities just killed me). Money no matter (salary), or is it?

A dessert and coffee with Darko just reminds me of how quickly life can change within the blink of an eye. He still insists to treat me even though I was the one on holiday, and not him. Such kindness - how could I ever repay? After all he was the one encouraging figure of luring me into that metropolis.

And the Man - looking cool - approves.

2012 is also the year where half of the world's superpowers are changing hands (politically). And these countries have launch controls to nuclear weapons. Not to forget Iran is being instigated in recent times by the people who declared victory in Iraq and Vietnam... They (the country) provided me this technology of putting things up here. In the documentary "Waiting for Superman" the students in this country ranks highest in confidence, but lowest in actual grades. Michio Kaku thinks the H1B visa is America's greatest invention to keep the country innovating.

But who wants to go America now?

Let's zoom in to China - I walked in the local supermarket and picked up everything Yori did to see where was it made from. I hear stories from my beloved about how Japan only accepts the cream of the crop in those clothing shipments made, and yet the suppliers still make a profit on the sale - the rest goes to waste or gets recycled into oblivion or sent to Reject Shop or something...(unfounded claim). How can we make people aware that to only purchase, to only consume nothing but the highest quality products? I picked up the same ice cream scoop that i have in Melbourne in Malaysia and realised it was painted over to hide the ugly cast marks - the one in Melbourne home was properly cast and left unpainted - i'm sure if i found the same scoop in Japan it would have perfect joints or perhaps even polished.

We need to Innovate out of depression, not to spend out of depression. How in the world do we get to create this awareness and to undo the damage?

grocery shopping

2011-12-22T09:07:00.000-08:00

cross section. iphone 4s.

Back to Japan to experience a rather tired mood. Work drinks of the year ended in Melbourne at 6pm and 12 hours later and we were on a flight en route to the upper hemisphere.

Nothing has changed here.

I went to a food store at midnight and i saw this lady with a pale face laying the clear sheets at the fruits rack. She had wrinkles stemming from her eyes that disappeared to the front of her ears. All grey hairs tied to the back with a square-ish cloth, single faint pastel colour.

She was short and was trying to spread the sheets across the rack, tipping toe (i was watching from across and saw her getting taller and shorter). With each tip of the toe she stands on, it was quite an effort... her eyes blinked a bit... but you know it was quite an effort.

Was she 75? What was she doing here, working to midnight in a 24/7 food store...? What have we done in the past 20 years that made the system so wrong that people can't retire? Could she have something else better to do...?

Thinking about it makes me sad. I can't find any answers. Yet.

blue (purple) yonder

2011-12-16T22:17:00.000-08:00

Fuji Velvia 100f.

flying again. shortly. imagine all that stuff in a rivetted aluminum alloy cylinder that is pressurized....

building a palette of networks.

2011-12-04T02:29:00.000-08:00

Surprised at how little you need to build bikes? - photo taken on iphone 4s.

Hi, my name is chern (no caps please!) and this is just half the tools i have to build bikes. i am not just an architect for buildings - i fix things, i make things with my bare hands and with the tools i collect. I know how to solder electronics, i know how to prime, sand and paint, i know how to adjust the brakes on my mini, making dark room prints, photography freak for the last 7 years and of course i know how to use my imagination all too often.

These are my prized posessions and they are skills that cannot be taken away from me. Contact me to work together and see what we can come up with. I will build and assemble anything that pleases me in the near future. Watch this space.

and...

no, i am not selling any of these tools! ; )

i ain't no Superman

2011-11-12T20:58:00.000-08:00

(to enter Japan)
cw:　"what do you mean by humanitarian reasons?"

pm:　"like going to the Tsunami area to help them..."

cw: "(what about)going into radiation?"

pm: "that's what Superman would write there..."
cw: "..."

drive-by shooting.

2011-11-11T23:58:00.000-08:00

was in a car today and i saw this really nice 2.7RS (replica? who knows...)

i love my life.

it was surreal...

2011-11-09T03:37:00.000-08:00

09.11.2011

"eden" sunset, 2 years and 2 days from the "eden" project.

more at http://waa-h.blogspot.com

alice in wonderland

2011-10-30T04:58:00.000-07:00

for some reason this photo really melts me. Taken on iphone 4s.

first.

2011-10-19T04:27:00.000-07:00

first piece of furniture for our home. picture taken using iPhone 4s. check out the D700-esque grain. Noise suppression of the camera is phenomenal.

Urban Removal

2011-10-09T21:23:00.000-07:00

If we remove the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Melbourne, the waterfront will be a better place.

obituary to a visionary.

2011-10-09T04:54:00.000-07:00

Art work by 19 yr old Jonathan Mark from Hong Kong.

Last Thusday Steve Jobs passed on.

I got a text message from Max on my Blackberry and the rest of my day just disappeared. Eroded.

I can still remember each and every one of my friends dropping their Nokia Qwerties and Motorolas and their Korean stuffs.. Japanese converted stuffs (to run on GSM from CDMA).

The phone now does not accept commands, but instead replies to you and follow up the same conversation with you without you mentioning what you asked it to do previously...

If Apple is clever enough, they could instantly find a loop hole in the sluggish cyber laws in most countries to collect data and feed back into consumer demands to sell things the google way. This is purely speculation. For those of you who thought the iphone 4s is a let down because it is not an iphone 5, this is actually Steve Jobs' swan song product.

Let's just predict this: The next MacBook Pro will have the iPad touch screens, and you can carry a conversation with your computer when you feel lonely... But the iGenius has done whatever he could in Apple and there is nothing left to do now. He set the ball rolling for Apple to continue its innovation in a process loop so that products are churned out every time its life span ceases. We will continue to receive good products that although a higher risk to use (i had many Apple products before, and they all broke down at least once except my iPod touch) but quick to repair. His job, is done - perfect, whole and complete.

Having said all these, it seems like he lives a life of an Architect. Making private phone calls to a Google Engineer to change the slight mis-appearance of the yellow-on-blue shade of a letter in "Google" to look right on iPhone screens to their high-level staff sharing an inside joke of 'living' in their Cupertino campus. Inspiring a team of individuals to design something to their own standard of perfection and not for the masses because the public has no idea what they want until they know what they can have. The brand touched the consumers in America with neuro-linguistic-programming and the rest of the world with their good design...

Apple is blessed by alot of business runners too i believe. That quick injection of cash into Japanese supplier chains post 3-11 this year helped reduce the delay of iPad2's launch all over the world. The company has one of the fatter cash wallets in a modern tech company. Also do a quick google on all of Apple's failed negotiations (trying to buy a cable TV business back in early 90s, as well as the failed attempt to buy out Palm before they went viral in America...). Those were just a few of the many failures who shaped Apple to become the way they are today. You gotta be a loser for 15 years before enjoying the Renaissance in the next 10 years.

For that charisma, that leadership, the smart way of doing business - it all comes with a hefty price tag.

The next question that I need some light on is - Is that the real price for changing the world?

You only live once, and while his biography sales and pre-orders jumped 53555% his passing sold me his swan song product - and no other inventor's name is going to pop up on my new iPhone4s through a text message or any other of my future communication device on the day he/she died. Ever.

listening to aiko.

2011-10-05T07:16:00.000-07:00

I haven't been writing for a while.. been doing alot of thinking, and none of writing. Thinking about what i'm going through, what we are going through... Priorities have changed, i have to admit.

Notice how much photos i've put up here?

Speaking to a great friend tonight, i vaguely remember the conversation, but what struck me was how much impact there is to be unrecognizable to the people around us after ten years. The only constant is change and i'm in the middle of this without realising. I doubt any of my highschool friends recognize me now. Same can be said of me to them.

A lesson of importance to reinvent ourselves, time after time, after time.

Where will we be, 87,000 hours from now?

How will we be? and most interestingly;

What will we do...?

I do not know...

Rolling on...

2011-09-13T10:16:00.000-07:00

Doing a competition, hoping to get it built in Japan. Finished and transmitted now. It's all good. Couldn't have done this without any of you massively committed people.

And this is how we roll as a team. In time and on time.

This one goes out to you. You know who you are.

開門見山。

2011-08-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

Notice how squarish the above title text is? There is a chinese saying of people being a square character which directly implies him/her having an honest, straight forward personality. No tricks.

I have been working on a project and much like every other current architect in the trade in the world today, it's about liability control. As i sat in a negative conversation of resigned cynicism today, i can't help it but to feel that there is so much more in our practice of architecture than just liability control.

Tracing down to the root of causes, it could be that the whole market driven forces pushes everyone to perform while sacrificing quality, and we find ourselves trapped in this environment of unwilling to make decisions (therefore we wank around until due date of unnecessary work until it becomes a necessity to finish) due to some fear and insecurity. The fear includes the 'not a question of if i get sued but WHEN'...

There must be a way to have integrity in what we do. And it comes by making a stand and saying 'hey, this can be done a different way and i am making that my personal game for gain'. Which led me to the dinner conversation of hope. I am happy, very contented to have known people who are still urging for change, right now, and more than ever. People like this makes me energized, they make me have a sense of belonging because they don't complain. You know who you are, but i doubt you knew i have a blog haha... But it is your being that becomes my raison d'etre. I am keeping close tabs on you ; ). Let's do something great in the not-too-distant future.

People my generation complain too much because they are trapped by the shackles of our employers' generation. Cynicism overdose? It isn't something good, nor something bad. It is just the way it is and if the environment continues to be like this, we change the environment or we create our own to which we live in. Afterall, Winston Churchill once said 'we shape our buildings and the buildings shape us in return'. I am making a stand for the way we live and work. I am giving up on the previous generations to focus on the ones to come. 江山易改，本性難移。so be it. The mishaps are history, the cynicism the same. Let go of it and you see a bright future post GFC mark 2 and it will be human Renaissance all over again albeit in a hotter globe.

Just like that, we can be our very own architect.

36 hours to go

2011-08-16T07:24:00.000-07:00

when the chips are down, you think about what you have done to get you in this position in the first place.

so here goes.

things i learnt living in a japanese house* compared to say, australian houses (rental properties for both countries, i mean)

1. Coloured toilet wares - in australia, most houses that i can afford to rent have white everything. toilet bowls, sink, shower tray, etc. THEY GET STAINED instantly and you can see them instantly. Japan however, likes variety, so you get coloured wares like blue, pink, pale peach, pale green, and the list goes on. You can still clean them properly, and somehow stains catch on much later (special coating?)

Japanese toilet wares sometimes come in a whole unit, that means everything is seamless from the bathtub to the sink to the wall up to the ceiling. You can wash it down while you shower, or during your shower if you prefer naked cleaning. You can hose everything down except for the ventilation fan above your head. Even the lights are water proofed.

They come in a unit, hence the name Unit Baths. And hoisted into position during construction. The traps are two fold, that means you don't have to buy additional grates to stop your hair falling through the pipes.

2. Kitchen - The rental house i live in has a kitchen benchtop made of cheap laminex. if you put something hot on top of it, it bubbles after a while. The kitchen sink is the size of 2.5 ipads. which is small. The house has 2.5 rooms, and the kitchen sink is 2.5 ipads. The house i live in Japan has one room, and the sink is 300mm deep, and can find almost 4 ipads laid in tiles (no joke). It allows the tenant to 'spend' 4 days worth of dishes stored in cupboards, and wash it all in one go.

2.5 Kitchen - No kitchen range hoods in the house in Japan, just a powerful wall-mounted exhaust fan that sucks. Australia house? erm.... Range hood that doesn't work so why bother having it? I've seen Teka hoods that works just as little as bad. haha...

3. Carpets - why have them when you need to replace them? Just spec up a hard-wearing surface instead of making it a perishable.

4. Storage - Japanese house have storage everywhere. My bedroom was a 2m x 2m cube and yet it has a cupboard above the door. so convenient. My aussie rental house expects me to buy furniture.

5. Windows - My Japanese rental house had deep window sills so that i could even set a tv on top of it, together with many other things. (This also gives an indication to how thick is the wall, and a knock on it will tell you that it is filled with insulation). i can't even shut my window tightly in Australia. They are top hung, pop up windows. Japanese windows are generally sliders, somehow, they are just easier to use.

more to follow.

insomnia.

2011-08-08T07:08:00.000-07:00

it would be a big fat lie if i said i don't think about Japan, every minute of everyday. coming back to down under is pretty uninspiring. for those who know what i'm doing now, it isn't personal. neither do i fear having to eat my words. it is what it is. and i am very good at my job. i will not fear what i say especially when i meant every word of it and bear responsibility over its effects. neither it is anything personal so don't get offended when i say i find my life (alone) here is dull. i do not find architecture interesting anymore. and if any one in my field reads this and gets offended, please be gently reminded that you choose to be offended and you choose to be offended because of what i said. you made what i said the cause of your offence.

i have chosen to be the lab rat on the wheel for now. am i happy? no. but until the next thing that comes along that makes me happy, this shall be it for now. afterall, it is the GFC all over again if you are thinking about how to keep your job, you are too safe.

i have nothing to say, no wisdom to inspire, and nothing to share recently. i miss my dearest. i can't wait to see her again. when my better half arrives, life takes off once again. and that shall be the only way to move forward now.

and hopefully the other dearest back home, is alright.

destiny

2011-08-07T03:32:00.000-07:00

(english, below)

思考に気をつけなさい。
それはいつか言葉になるから。
言葉に気をつけなさい。
それはいつか行動になるから。
行動に気をつけなさい。
それはいつか習慣になるから。
習慣に気をつけなさい。
それはいつか性格になるから。
性格に気をつけなさい。
それはいつか、あなたの運命になるから。

マザー・テレサ

Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words.
Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds.
Be careful of your deeds, for your deeds become your habits.
Be careful of your habits; for your habits become your character.
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.
Mother Teresa

telepopmusik

2011-08-03T05:29:00.000-07:00

TELEPOPMUSIK "dp.dq>=h/4pi"

TELEPOPMUSIK | Myspace Music Videos

monomini

2011-08-03T05:24:00.000-07:00

missing the little orange mini. similar car spotted in singapore, not too long ago. Sigh....

Shot taken on Mamiya 6.

there is...

2011-07-31T04:30:00.000-07:00

...something funny about this picture. Photo of my very own sister taken on her wedding day.

a z m y l y u n o r .

2011-07-28T06:56:00.000-07:00

Azmyl Yunor. Melbourne. many years ago. (ahaha...)

Taken on a Voigtlander Bessa, camera from the 1920s on expired Portra film.

for sale

2011-07-26T06:54:00.000-07:00

Stratos NJS frame. 57cm, ex keirin racer frame.

dad's camera from narita AP.

2011-07-25T06:48:00.000-07:00

This image was supposed to accompany yesterday's post, but there wasn't any relationship to the content whatsoever.

Konica C35, fuji velvia 50.

bus 402.

2011-07-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

I wast travelling on a bus en route to my home from the city yesterday and the driver picked up a Muslim girl, maybe from Sudan or Somalia, noted from her dressing and the way she looked. The driver knew her name, and she knew his. They greeted each other when she came on board.

On her right hand there was a cabin-sized baggage, in purple, and it looked rather effortless for her to lug that around. It was brand new. The driver had a chat too her as he started accelerating away from the stop and in such happiness she revealed that she bout the luggage for travelling. Out of 100 places that the Berlin Free University gives out annually, she got in. "I can finally become a lawyer" she said. "This would be so good for my family here." (in Melbourne). She looked so happy. I was brimming when I saw the look on her face and the driver's face.

Whatever happened to the the lack of good news? I guess I wasn't listening hard enough to the people around me. Glad to have left my headphones behind.

Many Sudanese and Somalians have taken refuge here in Australia. Countries that self destruct due to civil war had their people flee for their lives.. If you google hard enough, you find that Afghanistan used to prosper. They had co-ed universities that produces bright individuals, chemists, engineers, you name it. They were right up there shoulder to shoulder with other developing and promising nations. Go to English Russia website and see for yourself.

Now they are the world's largest opium producers. You can buy a hit of cocaine for two dollars.

I don't want to see this happening to Malaysia. We too were used to be bright-minded people. While our bridges across rivers aren't collapsing yet, we better steer ourselves away from this.

Other wise, no one could save us but ourselves and there's no one to blame, but ourselves.

2011-07-24T02:47:00.000-07:00

some very nice accessories.

grand mother = )

2011-07-17T04:52:00.000-07:00

My lovely grandmother. (Sister's wedding)

cheese~!

2011-07-16T04:25:00.000-07:00

picture taken from Anis and Syaz's wedding. Kodak Tri-X (of course!)

おはよう！

2011-07-15T18:06:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in 代々木上原。懐かしいよ、より,,,

wings.

2011-07-14T09:52:00.000-07:00

icarus on his maiden voyage?

only light can bring out the textures of this wall. camera doesn't matter. light is.

so let there be light.

Riots in my head this morning

2011-07-11T15:59:00.000-07:00

From the images that i have seen, and the videos, and the stories, the reports.
The police did their job. Except for the team that shot tear gas canisters and chemical water into Tung Shin hospital.

The police, however could be prepared with ambulances. In the event of a protest or events like these, i think they were ill-prepared for injuries. Look at any protests in Australia or America, they have Ambulances and Red Cross on standby (unless the Red Cross were part of Bersih?) to help the injured and give aid to. Look at any of the Bersih 2.0 pictures - where are the white vans when we need them?
It is a peaceful march that was declared illegal. Uniformed forces only take orders by the people who feed and rule. So like i opine, the Police did their Job. I wouldn't commend you for a job well done, but you did according to orders.

Everyone is declaring a victory. This is not fresh news. But this isn't like 911 where the suicide bombers declared victory and Bush gave them a 10 year spanking and double tapped the skull of Osama (by Obama) and then declared victory. What's going to happen now is the continuous reduction in foreign investments and the surge in foreign media attention. Tourism will be the hardest hit, for now. When the press goes away due to the lack of sensations, our next Malaysian election will occur.

How is it going to end up then? The country is divided than ever. How much more before we become no different than a cancerous, corrupt, disabled country? And then bounce back?

Malaysia, i am so proud of you.

2011-07-09T05:26:00.000-07:00

This is how much love we have for our nation. Google the live images and you, the One, sitting in that Office chair could feel nothing but your perspiration gathering, flowing, submitting to the laws of nature and culminating at the tip of your fingertips, inches away from that age-old dagger of yours while you contemplate your own political suicide...

wilson

2011-07-03T02:35:00.000-07:00

grab shot done with studio lights, on digital.

wynnstay.

2011-06-26T02:10:00.000-07:00

i have a job again and i really like the people here in the office. I like the work being produced and feel positive even though most that i have heard so far has negativity.

i won't complain, i can let it just be and deal. they know i am not a channel for them to complain. somethings are just of a higher concern. so come talk to me if you want to feel hopeful.

camera phone shot. just when i thought my blackberry is due, it allowed me to tether it with my mac. haha.... it ain't over till it says it's over.

at 100 beats per minute.

2011-05-31T16:55:00.000-07:00

"A photo op with the shovel sir?" said the journalist on the ground breaking of a new multistorey resort hotel by the sea. It was getting dark, but the flash was waiting.

With the horizon behind me i couldn't see anything, the wise senior by the name of Gerald slowly walked away as the camera started flashing. Children and teens were in their bathing suits running towards the water to catch the new wave...and it grew bigger, and bigger as it licked the shorelines. No one expected it to be 4 storeys tall.

The wave threw me up and over and across the wall, but luckily no bones were broken. I watched enough news and recaps to know that a second wave will come and there is nothing I could do but to run and run. Soon I was running in the air, my feet no longer on the ground and ran towards a train station that I've always travelled where the tracks were surrounded by the same row of trees.

I remembered I had a burger order waiting somewhere in the city and that's when I woke up. Heart-a-pounding.

え？

2011-05-31T05:42:00.000-07:00

＾＿＿＿＿＾

「笑」

leaving on a jet plane again.

this time going further away. to start my new job.

あああああ...

an open letter to the first year students doing design in Taylor's.

2011-05-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the wonderful afternoon flooding with ideas and what a talent showcase it has been. Faiz has taught you well.

I am surprised that no one picked up at the late Tan Sri P. Ramlee. Our very own Malaysian performance artist. I had a lecturer from AA once, and he described a project on Tan Sri P. Ramlee at Jalan Alor that will make a grown man weep. I was quietly hoping someone would do a project on P. Ramlee, something that reminds us of his presence that once lived in the monochromatic television boxes of our grandparents. Something that utilized the good old motion film projector that runs forever when the sun sets and the pre-Dolby/THX sound effects of modern day film are no where to be heard of but the echoes of his voice leaking through the gaps of the already porous brick walls of Kuala Lumpur. Remember, he lived in the day where a record store has only a selection of 6 music artists/bands, too... Beatles, Alleycats...

Words, can kill you. Remember that we are in the trade of selling dreams and ideas to people. We are expected to have the skills to deliver, so never go to your clients telling them you can CAD and Draw because these are meaningless to them. You are selling them what they have intended but no one has had the skills to put them down in to paper and build. When we crowd their minds with words that they need to digest and not of what they already know, it takes extra effort to educate them. In the process of doing so we may have lost their hold of their dreams. No progress is done efficiently.

There are no 'bests' in class. There are no worst projects either. But I do have a favourite few. And some of these projects have so much potential in them that their rightful designers have only a slight taste of what they can achieve ultimately. Lady Gaga, Banksy and Rowan Atkinson (especially Rowan Atkinson's learn-to-drive tunnel) made my day.

We are all trying to be nice guys, hence no one is criticising their chosen artists. Which is a bit odd. Some of those artists (Banksy, Bean/Atkinson) live by criticising people and the society - wouldn't you strengthen their reason of existence by doing the same to them? Making them laugh about themselves? What about actual art-making artists? We are so tied up with current popular culture that much has forgotten, where people has forgotten the origins of what gives "Pop" its capital "P". (Trace this back to Andy Warhol, if you will...)

A guy from my class by the name of Nicholas Mark Chin did a 3 storey foot ballers' bar. Ground floor is the courting bar - comprising of a Straight Bar and a Curvy Bar for people to meet, attract, and when that is done, they move on to the 1st floor for some semi-intimate spaces to know each other better (with no TV)

He then put day beds on the top floor, made the access staircase so narrow that only two people can walk up/down holding each other and share one single Plasma screen for 'football'. The plasma screen is hung at an angle and you can only watch it while lying down. For the people who failed in courtship they get to enjoy single arm-chairs with 42" plasmas for football watching on the same floor - just to take away the envious attention given to the ones who succeed courting. Nick was trying to point out that no matter how macho the sport can be, it ultimately is about this portrayed macho-ism in the sport that makes men wanting manly recognition for a certain advantage in pro-creation. Animal instincts-lah.

Now THAT is a football bar, and the rest is up to your imagination...

Good luck for next week, where you will be presenting your friends' projects as if they were your own.

ビックカメラ前。

2011-05-30T07:22:00.000-07:00

i miss 新宿西口の小田急ラインと代々木上原の千代田線 like how i miss you。わかる？

topping it off.

2011-05-29T09:48:00.000-07:00

...to finish off this series of the recent wedding in Japan, i leave you with my last shot of that day. 藤木さん&柳さん, I wish you a very good life ahead of you filled with joy, blessed with good health and absolute satisfaction.

Shot taken using the new canon 500D (or was it 550D i can't remember). In-camera black and white mode, almost unadultered jpegs. 17-40mm f4.0L.

thinking.

2011-05-28T13:03:00.000-07:00

To do and not think,

is,

doing and not thinking.

not doing without thinking,

and not thinking when doing,

and,

definitely not thinking and not doing.

hence,

I'd always prefer to do it while thinking.

2 more shots.

2011-05-28T03:33:00.000-07:00

Waiting for a dinner with family to commence, i thought i took the chance to share 2 more shots on the recent newly weds.

Venue was in 住吉神社, Fukuoka.

Canon eos3 with 50mm @f2.2 and 17-40 f4.0L

relocating and the steering wheel

2011-05-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

wedding ceremony - Fukuoka.

I am going through a(nother) relocation process.

The fall from my bike that broke my finger had a repercussion in the form of a slip disc in the lower 4 and 5 of my lumbar spine apparently. Bed ridden most of the time watching Adam Curtis' documentaries. This Brit sure knows how to package together (with highly outdated) video clips into a story telling component for history.

I have sent my 8mm movie projector to Melbourne from Japan and about to embark on a journey into motion picture film. Something to be excited about and to reminisce about Tokyo. My winter clothing has been sent directly too. Been driving this small german car recently and I must say it is one hell of a pocket-rocket. I wonder just how much greater it's elder brother is with twice more horses under the bonnet. It's so well designed and nicely crafted that if you run one of your fingers down the panel gaps you sense the consistency and alignment through your nerves at the finger tips.

Lost my thought thinking about the car. Damn.

one guy from TEPCO.

2011-05-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

白黒フィルム。Kodak Tri-X with Mamiya 6

google analytics and film.

2011-05-23T18:19:00.000-07:00

To my dear readers, perhaps it is the first time i am acknowledging you for reading. a big and warm thank you for supporting me and for visiting this site again and again to enjoy the pictures.

I hope you had a glimpse into my life and some of my friends' life through these pages. 3 years for a blog is relatively a short time. However, it has grown from nothing (one site visit a day, usually myself to check the layouts) to something read by people across the united states, brazil, uk, switzerland, japan, malaysia, singapore, australia, spain, france, belgium, sweden and even south korea.

Truly grown indeed. Most of you are recurring visits to which i am glad, some of you readers are people whom i personally know and you tell me that you read my pages. (perhaps some not haha.) Either way, i shall keep this site true to what its intended for - to share moments of life through the way i saw things. So it will continue to be very 'lean'. Intermittently there will be critique about my own profession and how the way things are done.

Throughout this 3 years, some readers had been inspired to pick up photography, and some decided to give film a try. Until this day, I am still learning to become a better photographer and am still very hungry to create better photos. Photos that are worth remembering and worth showing your own children in the future.

My next step is to try and digitize some recent 8mm movie film that i have taken and post it here in the next few months. I found a very old repair shop in Fukuoka full of stuff from the 50s to 80s and found an 8mm video camera by accident, and subsequently a working movie projector.

Why movies you might ask? Faiz used to work for a famous malaysian movie director named Yasmin Ahmad. Up until the day she passed on she insisted that all her feature films are shot on film. And to use film for motion pictures the lighting has to be perfect. Imagine each and every single frame is a careful photograph of one's reality and stringing those photographs together creates a story (Yasmin's blog is called 'Yasmin The Story Teller'). I just want to become better and better in what i do. I do not have to count around to be the best nor the most famous, I just want to be better, moment by moment, by moment.

My nephew is being bathed right now. I should go and capture him on moving film now. Gotta go, life unfolds in 18 pictures over 1/64th of a minute.

ゆーちゃん。

2011-05-22T18:31:00.000-07:00

mamiya 6, kodak ektacolor 160, 10 years expired film.

Each of the two guys' arms are the size of each of my thighs. No joke - they can carry her like this all day. haha... ^____^

Kodak Moments.

2011-05-22T01:44:00.000-07:00

Placing it right in the middle. Kodak Gold 400, canon eos3 with 17-40 f4.0L@f8.0. ETTL bounced and fill flash at -1/3ev.

I have been shooting film since my second camera and it has been 7 years and 7 weddings. The first 4 couples have turned into 4 families.

Nothing beats the skin tones of kodak 200/400 films if properly exposed. nothing. Digital on the other hand has improved. Perhaps it will take another 10 years before it can start to match the salient characteristics of film that has been continuously in development since the turn of the last century.

Even if a full frame CCD is truly flat, the film when stretched out at the back of the camera's shutter isn't. Perhaps this explains why similar lenses yield different results when shot with identical settings. Bokeh looks different too. The chemicals on film allows highlights to overload gracefully while even modern high-end digitals just wash out the details in blobs. Digital photos are getting closer than ever. Watch out for the next ten years of development...

newly weds.

2011-05-19T17:06:00.000-07:00

Shunta Fujiki & Akane Yanagi

i was saved by a digital camera in a recent wedding.

But the gold was still in the pile of film i have yet to sift through.

dear japan.

2011-05-18T19:01:00.000-07:00

i'll see you again later. just don't give me hay fever again, ok?

photo taken on mamiya 6, velvia 100f

don't even get me started.

2011-05-17T01:27:00.000-07:00

click "architects are wankers" me.

結婚。

2011-05-16T20:03:00.000-07:00

a recent wedding that i shot in Japan. 70 guests, one camera man. the silent pictures were shot on film (in developing lab ow). but this is one exception from a new breed of digital cameras.

technology has come a long way...

(also, introducing a new category called 'weddings' on my pages.)

investments

2011-05-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

my only prized possession: bike, laptop, cameras, some nice clothes and shoes.

If anything I learnt from being in the university and subsequently the job market, there is something that almost always never goes wrong - investing in people.

I may not earn as much, I may not spend as much, but the time that I have is enough to sow seeds around to generate enough interests and trust to make those precious communication and obtain assistance at times in need. Some times, the form of help is unexpected and runs in the background without me knowing.

Business people call this networking and (shameless) self marketing. However there is a slight difference that makes both networking and relationships that are working as different as night versus day. Perhaps networking is based on knowledge of a person - what he can do, what he can't, who he knows. You can draw a family tree of who knows whom and followed by a six degrees of separation analysis and so on. It can be quantifiable, manageable etc. It also involves a certain kind of expectation to profits (making more connections for trade purposes, wealth generation... you name it). These people can't make you cry.

I have unintentionally (but not any less inauthentically) done something that involves something different. Speaking to Max in Melbourne, I managed to piece together in my mind finally what my ultimate goals are. It was a simple statement, and I haven't gotten it right since the idea popped into my mind; the statement reads: I want to invest in people.

Why?

Think of it this way, if you count back the last 7 years of your life, how many people have you met have alot of energy, immense talent, unbreakable determination, failed countless times, and yet is a bit of a romantic to the ideas that they pursue? That they have a business in their minds waiting to materialize but is lacking of a moral push and/or money? Someone that sweeps you off their feet with charm but is somehow lacking a certain something not because they received inadequate education but just because they weren't exposed and were standing in a someone's blindspot or having one (blindspot) themselves?

They make you feel a certain way, don't they? Something romantic, but not in the lovers' context.

I am surrounded by these people. They do exist. Someone in fact has already invested some money in me and until today I am still trying to make a profit out of that investment for our money. And these people that i know, i cannot ever draw a family tree of networks. They live in that small window of emotions of mine - not in a teary-eyed way, but instead knowing them completes my being. They are my food for thought.

And ultimately it is how you make someone feels that matters in an age where monetary help is just temporary. Showing them a way to fish breeds sustainability compared to feeding them fish. When it involves some unexpectedness, an emotional understanding is created. Disagreeing with them about their insecurities through your own glasses of judgement and being honest about what you think of them, performing 'inception' and witnessing the eureka moment...after the sowing of seeds.

Through this seeding, I've gotten people hired, people have gotten me hired more than once, some has put money into small investment that i made, and i find myself ever more eager to invest in those talented people. More over, alot of people don't need money, but assurances that things will be alright in the end. Most times, it was the really emotionally stable companionship that people need amidst this ever changing world. Being there to listen when they rant and holding them back when they rage. Doing small things to them as a reminder that 'i am still here so there is no need to self-destruct'. And I have many odd skills especially on making things to give to them happily. The returns that I got, it did not start overnight. Thus realizing I can't blame anyone but myself when good things like these don't happen.

Dad always say 'money will come when you're needed in your profession'. Satisfaction arrives at your door when you've given out enough of those to people you care. It takes a lot of time to be good at something and time is the only thing I have now.

Might as well use it well then ; )

刺客。

2011-05-08T19:05:00.000-07:00

Feels like an assassin.

Smokey hotel with one small window looking out to a non-distinct street with the sound of traffic and a distant chirp of the local radio station...

A suitcase full of cameras (that got hand-inspected at the security gates), film as ammo, passport, plane tickets and boarding passes. Even that there are photos of people that i have never met in my life laid on the bed to help me recognize...

michael caine.

2011-05-01T07:13:00.000-07:00

classic

京都。第二。

2011-05-01T03:14:00.000-07:00

マミヤ６。ベルビヤ１００。

something worth watching.

2011-04-28T02:46:00.000-07:00

and i'm off to Tokyu Hands

it's something about the pudding, see?

2011-04-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

convinced that no one can make it better than she can. pricing her food according to inflation and complex demand for such a simple snack...

(medium format mamiya 6 on velvia 100)

i was always fascinated by this idea of 'birds of a feather flock together', people of a certain mind tend to be closer-knit to one another due to similar values and lifestyles ("VALS" they call it in the free market of America).

People who dress a certain kind (e.g. hipsters, fashionistas), people who drive a certain type of automobile (hot rods, hells' angels, chic vespas to minis) to people who hangout in a certain area (harlem, lower manhattan, brunswick..) catches my attention alot.

To the general public, when the moment where one realizes such existence of 'stereotypes' more often than not they are already a step too late. Too late in terms of someone out there is already one step ahead thinking about the next big product or the next big service to sell to the next up and coming stereotype.

Many decades before VALS, people were marketed with products that were defined by different earning abilities (price vs longevity), different social classes (burgeoise, average wager, etc). Products were then marketed for their usage, longevity and not about how the way it makes the users feel or project themselves to the public. Sales were slow, of course, and things were not replaced until deemed broken beyond repair and unusable. It was subconscious a subconscious thing.. no drama, no entertainment.

The Ford model T sold in the millions because it was revolutionary due to its mass production. It dissolved long journeys in carriages and was a workhorse. But, the Ford Mustang however was originally intended for women and not men. (Useful tool vs Product of Projection). Ford Motors realised the slow sales were due to the fact that they tried to sell the car to the wrong crowd. From then onwards 2nd generation Mustangs were then made to appeal to men for luring women. Hidden implications/messages were crafted into adverts to stimulate the subconscious desire to purchase because it advertised the 'feel good factor', not the 'use value'. Backed up by the babyboomers the car became THE definitive muscle car of the US of A. Just take a look at cars today, they somehow copied one another, evolve it, and then be copied by another car maker. Look deeper and you find that cars are sharing 'platforms' to save tooling costs, can be made with up to 80% of the same parts and so on. (google epsilon platform, VH platform, etc and you know what i mean)

Recently i saw a very nice dining lamp made 36 years ago in a Japanese house. The colour and the shape reminds me of those AEG lights designed by the deutsche werkbund during the 50s. It is a truly amazing product - the owner from the 70s has done nothng but giving it absolute care. Immediately i thought about 'where to get it' (a market for these items exist already) and then how to resell these items in the retro market (a small business). The next thing i knew was that i was already too late because the market for these older things say something about the people who wants these things today - the-retro, i-appreciate-older, nicer-made-and-longer-lasting-products-of-the-past crowd. And the places that sell them have inflated the price to a ridiculous level.

Now if i were to start something truly unique, i have to think from the raw materials stand point. If i want to create a special market for anything, i have to think about what to make with steel, timber, plastics, glass and so on... not many would go to such depths. However, if I would then which stereotype shall i be categorized into? the DIY man with the itch to build everything around him? Amazon and ebay will flood my emails with powertool ads from today.

So from now, i will do whatever i can to change the way i think - it has already happening but it needs a surge in that one desire to want to make things and make it better.

Take the 70s lamp scenario for example:

1. see the lamp.
2. noticed the age.
3. replace the desire from 'want to buy one' to 'want to make one'
4. realising it, and realising how much it costs to make one.
4a. make it better, of course, and;
5. make a small market out of it.

In effect, i am thinking in terms of how to mill a mould for sheet metal pressing, how to create the mold, how to paint it, and the paraphernalia that accompanies such a product. The process of making it far outweighs the excitement of finding it in a balloon antique shop, isn't it?

This all came from wanting to make a perfect dish of bread pudding... to the maker whom i want to become.

京都。

2011-04-25T05:42:00.000-07:00

temple full of students.

三十三

2011-04-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

4 hours before the quake.

6x6 medium format, fuji velvia 100, mamiya 6.

i wonder...

2011-04-17T23:19:00.000-07:00

... if the current malaysian children will inadvertently become the maids and slaves of the Chinese middle-income class.

oh, you know, just like how many malaysians treat their indonesian house maids - that kind of thing...

spring.

2011-04-17T03:44:00.000-07:00

bringing back the colours, every single year.

i do not have much thoughts nor opinions in recent days. so the pictures i share will do whatever they do. enjoy! ^____^

cafe in red.

2011-04-16T20:35:00.000-07:00

fuji provia 400x again. unedited colours and sharpness. nikon fm3 with 50mm f1.8

it was a wednesday.

2011-04-14T04:11:00.000-07:00

the sweetest wednesday morning in march, yet.

shot on provia 400x, fm3, 50mm at f2.8.

11 days from 11th march

2011-04-13T22:39:00.001-07:00

in a very red and yellow environment, i'd say the provia x 400 really shines. actually, this colour is exactly what i saw in the restaurant. it's so accurate...

i'll post one up tomorrow on a naturally-lit scene.

breaking it down.

2011-04-12T20:31:00.000-07:00

spotted in the streets of Japan: Satan's recovery bandwagon.

If you want to have a life-time experience, come to japan now. to begin with, I realized that it is true that western media like a certain CNN knows how to sell a story. IT is a story that they are selling and the story is backed up by facts. The style of writing is supposed to invoke fear and create trauma, not just merely reporting.

I remembered when I learned 'report writing' and 'news writing in school', we are meant to provide facts in the utmost impartial, unbiased way. We as 'reporters' probably did a better job in reporting than those graduates from the media that hired them. In the event of the disaster, adjectives are slapped onto any noun. we trust the readers to judge and gauge themselves on how should they react.

e.g. Instead of 'japan hit by an earthquake of 9.0 magnitude, tsunami warnings issued' they use something like 'japan hit by a monster earthquake with a devastating magnitude of 9.0, tsunami warnings issued' - words/language are a form of science by itself. You can print as big a line on the newspaper for the above-mentioned titles and the effect of both titles will have profound differences. Human beings are independent people and should stay that way... we shouldn't coarse people into collective thinking and collective opinions. Give us the details and let us sort ourselves out. Otherwise, we become lazy, insecure and accept anything come what may. You cast votes as an individual and not share the same ballot sheet.

Can you separate the facts from story telling? In fact newspaper reportage are never short of these sensational journalism (remember the russian constructivism movements of the 20s?). 90 years have passed and same old, same old. Screw you, (some) journalists for being such irresponsible professionals. You are tainting your own profession and it only takes a careful reading to reveal your ill-practice to move your papers. My readers are smarter than you. And if you noticed, a lot of the news clips on CNN too copied and pasted previous reports into newer ones. Gotten lazy?

Back to the life-time experience: coming back to japan. Streets are dark. Train stations are half-lit, the skyline only has red blinking lights at the edges of buildings. This is what you can expect the moment you land in Haneda. Japan manage to cut 20% of electricity consumption in less than one month and the rolling blackouts ended the weekend i returned. Trains are rescheduled for less frequency but no problems there. Living in fear is useless. People, are surprisingly happy and worry-less. Food still tastes as good, water, the same.

Now try telling Malaysians to cut either sugar, flour or salt consumption (willingly) by 20% in the next festive season...

The leader Naoto Kan has brought back the post WWII state as a comparison to their current situation. He means business. This might be the best thing (yet) that has happened to the Japanese economy. I may not agree with the way they get things done (根回しpractices) but i sure do have massive respects for these people.

Sendai airport has reopened. Try and beat that.

the return of the king

2011-04-10T22:49:00.000-07:00

we like moonscaping, don't we?

sink or swim.

2011-04-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

a happy saturday afternoon in tokyo live from a pocket wifi.

thoughts on being jobless. i'm feeling like a duck on a pond. with the feet beneath the water turning at a hundred miles-a-minute. getting tested to the wits on a daily basis. steering my way of being and feeling towards nothing. not making nothingness mean anything other than nothing.

i may seem to be very stable, as if nothing is upsetting my days but deep down inside i want to get this done and over with. pulling that starter coil, pump the choke, and ignite the once highly strung piece of motor.

humans ultimately crave for companionship in these testing times. much like the disaster in the land of the rising sun. you need one another, otherwise you go around in circles.

may i alter the post's title: sink or swim. together.

i am losing sleep as well. replenishing the juices in the oddest and weirdest times of day. the moment i achieved silence, the analytical, planner of a mind kicks into overdrive. Figuring out the best possible routes better than google maps, having a view of clarity far exceeding bing. but they happen in fragments, like shrapnel after pulling the pin...

sometimes, it hurts (physically). persevere, and persevere. otherwise i do nothing big. nothing worth remembering, nothing worth sharing, nothing worth imparting.

p.s. blogger's new post editor is out of control.

play.

2011-04-08T08:23:00.000-07:00

play the two videos together. make the cyclist on loop. enjoy.

what japan needs...

2011-04-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

...is less of salarymen and diversity of small and medium business competing against the number of bottled 'tea' available in their convenience store. make no one your enemy, and witness such a beautiful country rise from its ashes, 3rd time in a century and innovate yourself out of this natural disaster once again.

if two countries, Japan and China do not innovate themselves out of this reliance on nuclear power, no one will. Sadly, America has no resources right now. China found Thorium... fellow French will always... be French, so who else is left?

Remember back in the mid nineties Honda was the leader in technology for their advanced internal combustion engines. (remember the days of those boy-racers with their souped up eg-6 vtec engines on full throttle on the streets?) McLaren F1, the longest record holder for the world's fastest production road car wanted Honda to make their swan song V12 engine. (due to the association of McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team then). I guess Honda turned it down because a bunch of men in suits (who mostly don't wash their hands after toilet visits) decided against it. Or maybe no decision, whichever it doesn't matter.

They also did the Lexus (Toyota) who gave the S-class a real run for their money.

They made the NSX that gave the Italian Tifosi's big freakin wake up call that Ferrari should be dead. Honda made a under powered, better handling sports car that humbled the then Ferrari 348.

They made it with aluminum, made it lighter, as a result needing less engine power to achieve same performance...

They had 3g before the world had colour screens and polyphonic ring tones. (while apple tried to buy palmtops)

They DOMINATED world rally championships with the athletic Lancer Evolutions and Impreza WRXs. Their competitors were merely driving taxis in the field...

Sony Vaio to Japan was what Apple wanted to be for the world (secretly)

They had unlimited broadband already when Malaysia was still setting up a 256kpbs network. (yr 2000)

Stop dwelling in past glory and lead (yourselves) the world out of this mess.

Bring in the rain of concrete to Fukushima and erase this from your history books if you would...

tommy.

2011-04-07T06:14:00.000-07:00

t: i realised i have never had a chat with you
c: the moment you msged me, i realised i'm in love with you.
t: i love you too.
c: (it rhymes)
t: lol
c: hahahhaa
t: u r a funny dude
thank you for making my day, my friend. (though i have yet to meet you in real life)

year 1 student

2011-04-04T19:43:00.000-07:00

drew this when i was a year 1 student.

i doubt i learnt anything about how design over the years. acquiring this degree (and subsequently a masters degree) probably opened more doors and picking up various skills.

shit. i have not improved over the years and i am not putting down my peers - what i am trying to say is that the average student CAN do design right from the beginning provided they have spent enough time on it (i seriously did spend many hours in pain doing these things), thought about it through, and presented it without feeling insecure.

if anything i learnt from going through this 7-year process is how to deal with difficult people and how to do things quickly with the same result. when you put those skill-sets together you realize you manage larger projects and then you hit the ceiling of how much one person can do.

and then, you look out for people who possess the same attitude and approach like yourself and make bigger things.

welcome to my world

2011-04-03T02:01:00.000-07:00

ねふぃゆー from chern on Vimeo.

canon eos 500D with 24mm f1.4L

sister.

2011-04-01T22:11:00.000-07:00

sister's wedding. Canon Eos3, f 2.2 on Kodak Tri-X

'politik'

2011-03-31T22:17:00.000-07:00

i live in a majority chinese community in malaysia. people block public roads to place a boom gate, put up a small hut and subsequently employ a guard of a foreign national (sometimes with coloured hair, and drooped pants) to man the gate.

pretty useless because all the time they do is lay back, doze off and get honked awake to lift the gate. sometimes they can be seen flirting with another foreign national be it the same gender, or not.

that's sort of the culture here in this area. children get ferried around in cars with double-glazed over engineered Mercedes Benz while my Japanese-derived national car squeaks and rattles itself alongside them at the junction.

and today i realized that the shops area of this relatively young town ship started to charge for parking. At 40 cents an hour, it is cheaper than another township 20 kms away called Subang Jaya. As I was preparing money for a parking coupon, someone pointed out the introduction of a new parking coupon system, and immediately mentioned 'yeah, Subang Jaya is more expensive (60 cents) because there are more chinese there.' (my area here, the new township, is in the area of a predominantly Malay residential zones, and the state capital too)

I was instantly infuriated, but practiced a hell lot of restraint fearing a new Fukushima in the car.

1. Subang is a township 20 years older than my township, more expensive parking is expected.

2. there are alot of parking demands due to more citizens in Subang,

3. parking rates are higher to discourage people from driving, just check out Melbourne CBD.

4. it could have been higher but it is ONLY 60 cents an hour because of national census that the average malaysiana parking in subang can only afford 60 cents an hour and not more.

5. the huge difference of earning capability of our people in the country is reflected.

6. of course, parking in Kuala Lumpur city centre is even more expensive...

what i'm pointing out isn't the fact that there is a great gap in how much malaysians in general earn, but the fact that so many people around me have been conditioning themselves into having that instant response to Race and Religion.

Sitting down for breakfast, a short drive in town is so oftenly accompanied with remarks of baseless racial issues. We complain about anything and almost everything like a usual human would, i just wish that sometimes it isn't tied to religion and race. If you complain about the government, complain about what they are doing wrong, complain about who is wrong, not his religion, race nor gender. Even if your mind thinks about what race is involved, you just can't say it no matter how righteous you be. Thinking and doing are two very separate things... We are now acting too much according to our thinking and not according to our values and principles which we claim to uphold.

This is really driving me crazy.

and on the short note of driving, Japanese drivers sometimes drive like Malaysians too. You'd be surprised to see. It only takes a 710yen taxi ride.

Did you know also a local radio partially reported on MIROS' statistics on the number of accidents based on gender? That Men have caused more accidents per year statistically than women. But they forgot to report that MIROS' statistics came with a disclaimer that regardless of gender, accident rates have increased, men by 1/3, and women by 1/2. It also emphasized the imcrements, NOT the gender.

And our local politicians are still making fun of womens' menstruation in the Parliament. And in the parliament they talk about local talent shows on televsion, women exposing too much on tv, and recently on the newspapers some people whom had received Royal knighthoods exposed the former deputy prime minister's sexual escapades - allegedly.

Are they not getting laid themselves at their home(s)?

for you architect boffins, imagine Lord Norman Foster exposing Sir Richard Rogers' sex tape (in allegations, of course) and Lord Foster coming out to public saying 'I knew it was him (Rogers) because I was the other man - which you can see my face - in the same video'.

I feel so sick.

miss work?

2011-03-30T18:19:00.001-07:00

she is right in the middle of the picture, but the book isn't.

mr. Masaki of New York. (haha)

riding.

2011-03-29T06:16:00.000-07:00

since i stopped riding to work, i've stopped spending on my bike. Taking the train with a monthly pass has since given me less freedom at the cost of more convenience. The amount spent on tickets were previously spent on tyres, bike gadgets, slight changes to the frame and other bits.

i miss my bicycle now gathering dust in Yokohama. i miss cycling. i intended to wake up early-ish every morning in Japan after quitting to cycle 50kms in 2 hours. uphill then down. followed by job hunt efforts in the afternoon, working for Darko at night.

nature came and disrupted what i thought was the 'way of life after RY'. Now, i am working just as hard as i was while in Japan, looking for a new place to be. Just to compare, hunt and gather, and live.

feel so unfit now. i need my drugs and they come in the form of two wheels with one tied to the chain and connected to a pair of egg beaters.

do we really have an idea...

2011-03-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

...of what is going on in Fukushima Nuclear Powered Plants?

As I sit and ponder in hunger about whether my chinese new year cookies next year will be made from radioactive wheat, or whether my pee is going to 'glow in the dark' due to radioactivity, i can't help but wonder about our brink of a global destruction.

Slow death is what i had in mind.

three cheers to mankind - the type of cheer normally initiated by the head master that students hate in a malaysian government secondary school - a life-less cheer, that usually ends with the head master being beaten up in the boys toilet like the frozen meat scene in Rocky Balboa.

And to the Tokyo Electric Power Company:

You have created your own worse enemy, you doubt over the validity of your instruments which you rely so heavily on to determine your own safety.

You assume the 10 million times higher-than-average readout is a cause for reanalysis.

You can not even see the pollution that brings.

You assume 'thick black smoke' could be safe, or unsafe, depending on the situation or your mood.

You assume 'white smoke' to be the smell of flowers emitting farts after over indulging on a plate of baked beans

You assume the radioactive isotopes will 'dilute' in sea water, and assume radiated sea creatures of all kind are safe for consumption

You even stopped publishing the rates of pollution in (drinking) water for 2 days now

Your ally pulled away one of their most prized air craft carrier based in Yokosuka as a 'preventive' measure - they obviously know something we don't

and yet you kept playing the language of 'implying' when the rest of the world shares the same atmosphere (air) with you

You fucking imbecile(s), when are you going to grow up and just admit that 'i do not know' and just send the community to panic?

You really have no idea what the hell is happening in those 4 sky blue cubes...

... do you?

Every single certainty of yours is accompanied by a 'no immediate effects on human health'. Weasel word being IMMEDIATE. Various people are still collecting data for Chernobyl even after 25 years. So does this mean that after 50 years of Chernobyl when we finally know the effect of Chernobyl, and you will warn the people in Japan 25 years after Fukushima to seek some kind of vague treatment?

Men thought they could conquer the world with such endless energy. Energy such as the Controlled Detonation of A Bomb Inside a Chamber. I'm sure the people who invented these things were men. I am right. I am as sure as Renzo Piano's certainty of Christopher Columbus being of Italian*.

I am sorry this is such a sexist remark. I'm talking about the men we put in the government to serve the citizens' rights. Women have the intelligence to such technology I'm sure, but have even more intelligence to vote against continuing such technology to destroy nature.

Forgive my naive ignorance too, but just look around you: the countries at war, with internal political issues and struggles (Malaysia included) - isn't it mostly men? Yes? Yin and Yang. Yin for women, who brings negative/evil associations and Yang for men, and have positive meanings. My story is that I suspect men created those two terms right from the beginning of language due to their innate cowardliness and use their born physical strength to stifle the opposing thoughts of such oppression of women. When that victory happened, men reigned for centuries and centuries; and educated the subsequent generations of men to their own extinction.

and if the woman politician or the politician's wife became evil, it could be very well caused my the obtuse pea man standing next to/behind her.

Except Sarah Pailin, but that's precisely why she didn't win.

*his speech at the inaugral Ulrich Franzen Series of the Architectural League of NY

hummm....

2011-03-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

ellipsis.

2011-03-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

i miss you,

18.

2011-03-21T02:48:00.000-07:00

1st year student drawing when i was 18. seems like i never improved but acquired new skills through the years only.

final dinner.

2011-03-20T10:58:00.000-07:00

from the left: guy from Arashi, Super-Baghdad-Architect, Talented Mr. FJK, Lovely Akane-san, and lastly yours truly.

Photo taken on Mamiya 6 set on timer, and on Velvia 100 film.

why so serious?

2011-03-20T03:38:00.000-07:00

i haven't picked up my dry cleaning near 蒔田駅前 in Japan.

（写真：平尾より。）

surreal.

2011-03-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

new camera. (500d)

i've officially dipped my toes into digital.

no. i will still use film for absolutely golden occasions.

it's just that random smiles happen too often too quick so i am in desperate need to capture that.

bleak

2011-03-15T04:24:00.000-07:00

bleak.

3 hours from departure.

This could possibly be my last view of Tokyo Tower for some time.

that was close.

2011-03-12T01:30:00.000-08:00

try standing comfortably and have someone pulling that rug off the bottom of your soles.

when did you last had the best meals with the best laughs with all of your most loved ones together in the same table?

...

mine was yesterday.

...

and it might be a long time before that happens again.

DIY cutting board.

2011-03-08T15:29:00.001-08:00

in most japanese kitchens, you do no have enough space to even fit a typical cutting board. So sometimes we have to resort to balancing a standard cutting board on the edge of the sink. We rest our knives on it, too... Makes it kind of risky if you think of it. The knife could fall one way or the other - into the sink or on to your leg(s). So i made something that sits snugly on a typical counter top,

communicated with the Tokyu Hands people on how to cut this block of wood.

self tapping screws - instead of nails, i chose this so that the blocks can be taken apart and be recycled for another use at a later date.

measuring up comes before everything (it's about 280mm x 520mm)

The block came with a nice natural 'dent' so i positioned it to the left to make a natural 'handle'.

simple detail. very standard.

tadaa! (some sketches and measurements were done prior to everything, of course.)

海の公園

2011-03-05T03:34:00.000-08:00

good old medium format

mamiya 6, velvia 100.

strange pictures that gets past the shutter.

2011-02-28T06:20:00.000-08:00

haha.

mr. Volstorf with his magic.

2011-02-27T02:07:00.000-08:00

pidgeon wizard in training.

nikon f3 with 85mm @ f2.0 on Kodak tri-x (of course)

3 years ago, i wrote this.

2011-02-21T06:10:00.000-08:00

3 years ago, i wrote this.

I think I've made up my mind.

I'm coming back to Malaysia in less than 8 years time, before you and ma enter your 70s. I figured if you can take care of me for the first 20 years of my life, i can do the same for you both too. So.. take care of yourself till then? Shouldn't be a problem gua.. and i think i can be established by then. (contrary to the myth of "architects only manage to hit it big when they are in their 50s). It maybe half the time of 8 years, who knows? right?

Look out for me?

= )

son.

and the reply was:

Hi son,
It would be nice you are around when we are in the 70's. I would suggest you concentrate on what you intend to do and just do it. We do not know what could happen along the way so not need to plan so far. Things can be pretty unpredictable these days. Appreciate your concern about our ageing, proud to have you as my son. Just a reminder, aiming high is good but need not be too anxious. After acquiring necessary skill, it is other traits you need in order to succeed. These include willingness to work hard, eager to learn, inter-personal skill, EQ, self discipline, ability to work as a team member etc. There are many management books on how to be a high achiever. Maybe when I see them, I will get a copy for you. Wish you success in your study.
Lao Pa

up in the air.

2011-02-19T17:53:00.000-08:00

^___^

that hair and that smile.

2011-02-15T07:20:00.000-08:00

ヨリコ。fashion designer in Tokyo.

photo taken with Mamiya 6 on Kodak Tri-X.

あああ。。。

2011-02-11T19:05:00.000-08:00

As I boarded the train tonight I was quickly followed by a couple as the door was closing. The man, dark skinned with curly trimmed salt and pepper hair and in loose leather jacket reached for the handrail as his wife (presumably) lifted her last foot off the platform across the gap and into the carriage.

A high-pitched tone came from above and the train moved forward with a slight rocking movement from side to side. The lady gently rested her right palm on his chest to counter her ownself. She then blinked slowly, and gazed into his eyes. He looked back, as she whispered, mumbled something from between her lips. He responded by putting his arm slowly around the back of her shoulder as they inched slightly closer to one another. That eye contact went on for another two stations and by the third she could not keep her eyes opened anymore. Eyes closed, revealing her wrinkles stemming from the edge of her eyes to the sides of her face, she rested her face partially on him. And with a hint of smile, she dozed off as he looked over her head, staring into the passing subway walls.

吉野町駅、a guy stood up from his seat and left the train. The man gave the lady, half awake, a nudge and a soft tug of her sleeve. With one hand on her elbow he guided her four steps forward to that vacant seat. Standing closely to her she continued her snooze.

They looked nearly 60s. She looked a little more aged than him. Tough life here in Japan - with or without money.

I can’t stop myself from smiling in silence witnessing such sweetness.

Happy Valentines Day.

generally tired.

2011-02-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

コーヒー＠仙台

2011-01-28T19:14:00.001-08:00

the surprises you get from travelling.

he was rocking photoshop 7.0 and knows how to make one hell of a coffee plus toast.

mamiya 6 with tri-x.

forget my dinner again...

2011-01-26T04:20:00.001-08:00

... and i'll make sure you remember me for life.

you one small fucking son of a bitch.

i am from your team,

though i may not speak to you nor did you acknowledge my presence from day one.

words can cause damages,

i can be just as lyrical in my native(s) as your 敬語のちょっと、ちょっと's,

this is a practice of an exceptional case.

with a click of a finger and through the bytes from the airwaves,

sooner or later,

this one gets hand delivered to you.

it is exactly people like you that exists here in our work place that allows the type of work gets done. that allows the boss to continue to exist in this profession.

not good, not bad, but plain, plain selfless stupidity.

good bye.

2011-01-25T04:22:00.001-08:00

thomas: "it's underexposed..."

(but i like it ; )

another person has left Tokyo.

we had such a nice walk around the museum.

Sigh.

young guns.

2011-01-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

Dear choi and jan.

Been having some little thoughts about you guys after meeting you.

I envy you guys for being young, and playing this industry as such a compatible and inseperable team. It is tough, domestic disputes are inevitable, that's why to be able to pull this for 3 years and going on strong is really, truly admirable. It's sometimes also an ego stroking and destroying profession, sure you already know that by now. Having said that, there was so much acknowledging towards one another, i am humbled by your character !

I don't hve mcuh advice to give, I constantly find that I can't get enough of those myself (haha). So I wish you both the best in life, take leaps of faith, and have absolutely no fear in doing anything and never to conform to any standards set by anyone other than the ones set by yourselves. Gut feeling and first instincts are always very dependable as we are artists, albeit a very professional one.

Most of all I'd like to see you guys have fun in your next 24 life changing months, it is my selfishness to want to witness two bright individuals shine.

Oh, and if you need a rendering monkey or a model making slave, you have my calling card.

See you soon.