Settlers Cafe
Add: 15 Holland Dr #02-98
(Behind Holland Village)
Tel: 64640178








Another Branch:
39 North Canal Road
(Clarke Quay MRT Exit A)
Tel: 65350435

Visited this interesting hang-out place last week with some friends from Chup's Architect-in-a-bottle project.

Or perhaps its just me but I never knew such place exists! Basically, the set up is a cafe with many many board games provided. The price of the food together with the games is interestingly packaged. Crowd is mainly teenagers. But no harm checking it out.









I snapped a photo of their menu that is inspired by "Monopoly".




Didn't try the food cos I went after dinner.
This place has ventilation problem and the smell of chicken cutlet will linger with you long after you leave the place.

... the one who finds the menu really innovative. Is there copyright issue I wonder?

Lady in the Water

Rating: ***1/2
Cast: Paul Giamatti, Bryce Dallas Howard, Bob Balaban
Genre: Drama Fantasy

Watched on 29 Jul 06 at Marina Sq with Chup, Steven and Z.

... the one who particularly like the hillarious twists towards the ending.

Au Petit Part 3

To be read together with Part 1 and Part 2.







- The ambience of the restaurant became very cosy at night.








- Clam and cheese soup











- Orange and Marnier Souffle with Chocolate Truffle



... the one who is now absolutely exhausted doing this Au Petit entry. But it's all worth it. So go try the place!

Au Petit Part 2
Part 1
Part 3

What we had:
Set dinner $75 which consisted of (Value for $$):

[photo posted in Part 3]
- Clam and cheese soup






- 1st entree: Steamed Boston Lobster and Crab Meat with Green Asparagus







- 2nd entree: Foie Gras served with Baby Spinach, Red Onions and Vinegar







- Tenderloin Beef with Mashed Potatoes




[photo in Part 3]
- Orange and Marnier Souffle with Chocolate Truffle
(or Choice of French Farm Cheese with Walnut Bread & Salad)

- Choice of Coffee or Tea


We also ordered:






Traditional Cassoulet with Duckleg confit, Sausage, Lamb Shoulder and Bacon $34







Shrimp and scallop dish (price unavailable)









Creme brulee dessert (price unavailable)


and Red wine $11/glass

(+):
- iced water is served FOC unlike Da Paolo
- impeccable service
- great ambience

(-):
- very limited parking
- food is a little salty

Gee, seems like I can't add anymore photos.
Sorry but you would have to refer to Part 3 of Au Petit

...the one who is planning to put a lot more food entries in the blog (look out!)

Au Petit Salut French Restaurant
Part 2
Part 3

Rating: ****1/2
Add: (Holland Village, Chip Bee area)
Blk 44 Jln Merah Saga #01-54
Tel: 64751976

Lunch: 11.30am - 2.30pm (Closed for lunch on Saturdays)
Dinner: 6.30pm - 10.30pm

Price: $70/pax with wine

This restaurant is highly recommended by a colleague, Jaq. So Chup and I decided to give it a try on Friday night of 28 Jul 06. We were later joined by Steven and Z. Marvellous place indeed it turned out to be.

Word of warning, parking may be difficult here. A problem that has been part and puzzle of Holland Villange for a long long time... Going early may help.








Alfrasco and indoor seatings are available.




To me, good bread is essential before the dining starts.









And the bread proved to be very satisfying!




[photo posted in Part 3]
The ambience of the restaurant became very cosy at night.

The blog is preventing me from posting more photos.
So please check Au Petit Part II.

... the one who really likes the 6.9 mm Samsung phone

Ayam Penyet Ria
Rating: ****
Add: Lucky Plaza #04-25/26, Orchard Rd
Tel: 62357385

Other Branch: 350 Joo Chiat Rd
Tel: 63484932

Great for Indonesians (like myself) who are craving for authentic Indonesian delicacies. Beware of imitations! The chili is oh so fierce...!

As the title says, the must try item would be Ayam Penyet!

Word of warning, the ventilation of the place is definitely incapable of sustaining the overwhelming orders from customers. Be prepared to smell exactly like Ayam Penyet when you leave.

...the one who will put up photos of the food the next time I visit the place

Old Magazines

I met an elderly architect at an event last week and had heard from elsewhere that this architect is looking to give away his office’s collection of magazines. In fact, he had thrown away a sizable bit as his office downsized. After a couple of drinks, I asked him if he would consider giving them to the school library and me. He agreed, and yesterday, I went to his office and took quite a large stack of them. Some of these journals, our school already have, so he said I could just give these away to the students then.

I asked him again if he was sure he won’t need them anymore. He said he was winding down, even though he was still robust. He has had an active life in the profession, and has a ready opinion for a lot of things. (“Why are all the show rooms of the new condos the same? Can you imagine anyone actually living in those spaces?” “We must have more works published that are different from the glass and timber-louver type. Every house looks the same.” “The architecture of a campus must be consistent. Otherwise, it’s a collection of different buildings and it’s not a campus.”) On the walls are hung some classic B&W photos of projects from the firm’s glorious days in the 60s and 70s. One of them will be demolished soon, and I asked if we should not photograph it one last time before it’s gone. He agreed. When URA asked for submissions for last year’s “Singapore 1:1” exhibition, the firm did not have digital photos of these projects, and did not commission new photos for them. For this and other reasons, they did not submit any projects to the exhibition, even though some of their projects had been milestones in their time.

I went through some of the magazines last night, those from the years of 1993-1994. Attached to the covers were circulation lists. I could trace the initials and names of people in the office who were privileged to read them. I know one of them well. At the start of 1994, the circulation list was long, with 21 names. By late 1994, a new list registered only 10 names, with some cancelled and other names hand-written over. What happened in 1994? But in 2002, the firm had 12 names on the circulation list. My friend’s name has moved near the top. And then, abruptly, the firm is small again today, subsisting on houses and feasibility studies. What happened? And how will the firm evolve from here on?

My thoughts went back to that evening at the party last week. I had introduced this elderly architect to some friends. He enquired after each of us, and when we told him we’re all having our own practice, he was aghast. “Why are you all sole proprietors?” he asked. “Architecture is team work. It should be about a variety of ideas, and you should have a team of people, with different opinions and synergy.” He practiced what he preached. And he was never without some kind of collaboration or partnership throughout his whole career. This is despite the fact that partnerships can be turbulent at times, and no less enduring as individual practice. “Are you going to the SIA dinner?” I asked him. “No,” he said grimly. And then, hesitantly, he added, “We don’t have enough people to make a table.” And then he resumed urging us to make a better tomorrow.

Chup

Essqueue... Essqueue...!

I have an i-dear! Shall we go Melbem in Setember? We can
eat fry rye, fren fry and nasi lomak. Drink ore-rain joo and
lime joo, dining with oot table and oot chairs.......

Lost? That's probably what you will often hear when you are visiting Singapore. This is what we fondly call "SINGLISH". After being here for over 16 years, I am really good at it too. When I was in the resort island of Lombok (Indonesia) last year, a local asked my friends and I, "Are you speaking Japanese?". No dear... it's Singapore English :)

I have cracked my brain to compile all the commonly mispronounced words and common phrases used here in Singapore. Special thanks to those who have eagerly contributed to the list. Do drop your comments if you have thought of anything new.

Notice how amazingly certain phrases can shorten an otherwise very lenghty sentence (Item No.18). And how certain phrases can have so many meanings without too much elaboration (Item No.2 & 3). After all, as long as everyone understands you, and you know how to say it in perfect English when you are out of Singapore... why not go Singlish?

I believe how Singlish has developed to its stage today is largely contributed to our multicultural society with a good mix of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Caucasians all living quite harmoniously together. A lot of the phrases are adapted from Mandarin languange, dialects and even Malay languange, be it correctly or incorrectly.

Of course there are other exclamations that are added at the end of a sentence, eg: lah, lor, leh, hor, har, woh. It can get quite tricky to learn when to use what. To pronounce them in the right tone is also not easy. Eg 4 demonstrates how one can even use 2 of such exclamations in 1 sentence.

Eg 1. Don't go lah (can be in a pleading way or in a bossy/irritated way. The secret lies in the tone of how you pronounce it)
Eg 2. Just do it lor (said in a rather impatient way for someone who is fickle minded)
Eg 3. This one is really good leh!! (said in a reassuring way with an exlamation tone at the end)
Eg 4. I tell you hor, this movie is really good leh (used to join the 2 ends of the sentence together)
Eg 5. What did you say, har? What do you want, har? Where you want to go, har? (usually used to end a sentence)
Eg.6. But I don't know how to go woh... (used in this context to gain sympathy)

Excuse me : Essqueue
Melbourne : Melbem
Plastic : Blastic
Juice : Joo (lime joo, ore rain joo)
oil : Oyy
Wood : Oot
Ear : Year
September : Setember
French Fries : Fren Fry
Fried Rice : Fry Rye
Soil : Soy
Spoilt : Spoy oredi
nevermind : neh mind
nasi lemak : nasi lomak
idea : i-dear
government : garment
three : tree
also : oso
film : flim
like that : lyedat
don't know : donch know
about it : a-bow-writ

1. can fit or not? [Does that fit you?]
2. wat you want? [What would you like? What do you want to do?]
3. can or not? [Will that be possible? Can that be done? Are we allowed to do that?]
4. go where? [Where would you want to go?]
5. eat what? [What would you like to eat?]
6. so how now? [What should we do now?]
7. going TO FULL already ah [It is going to be fully booked soon] This one is classic!
8. can, can! [Ok, that will be great!]
9. wat talking you [What do you mean exactly?]
10. smelly or not? [Do you think this is smelly?]
11. so-called..... [to describe what should be in "inverted commas", ie not the actual truth. eg: this is our so called "recreation room"]
12. what you call ..... [a rather unnecessary word, probably used when the speaker is not really sure the right term to what he is describing. eg: This is what you call our 21st century state of the art surround-sound system]
13. cannot like that la..... [You shouldn't be doing that]
14. win oredi lor [used when somebody has done something incredible. eg: You win oredi lor, achieved your whole year's sales target in just 3 months!]
15. why you lyedat? [Why are you behaving that way?]
16. hurry up go and.... [always used before a verb to emphasize something is done in a rush, eg: I hurry up go and pick up the phone]
17. die die also must... [no matter what. eg: die die also must go and try the steak in that restaurant]
18. always dunno one leh you [Why do you always not know what I am talking about?]
19. everything oso u dunno [Why do you not understand so many things?]
20. skali nobody turn up [What if nobody turns up!]
21. how can? [How can this possibly be?]
22. go stunt [reverse]
23. don't little bit little bit say me hor [Don't accuse me of every single thing]
24. my one..., your one [this is mine, this is yours]
25. so tomorrow gym? [Are we going to gym tomorrow?]
26. got meh? [Are you sure it is there?]
27. where got? [Are you sure??]
28. ah-boh-den? [What do you expect?!!]
29. later you fall down then you know [Used like a warning. eg: Stop that or you may fall down!]
30. cannot tahan oredi [I can't stand it anymore]
31. don't shy don't shy [Please don't be shy, Please make yourself at home?]
32. don't play play [Don't play a fool, Don't joke with me]
33. tompang [to take a lift, to put under someone's care. eg: Can I tompang your car home? Can I tompang my keys inside your handbag?]
34. How to? [How do I do this?]
35. Then hor... [And what happens next is...]

... the one who is thinking of having lunch at Little India tomorrow

Thank you for smoking

Rating: ***
Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright
Genre: Comedy

Watched on 25 Jul 06 at Plaza Sing with Chup, Wil, Li and Bur

A few interesting abbreviations we learnt:
M.O.D: Merchants of Death
R.A.V: Russians, Arabs and Villains

A much more intelligent movie compared to How much do you love me but somehow the latter is more memorable if you try to recall scenes from both movies.

Just like what was said in Thank You For Smoking, 80% of people are moved by visuals rather than words.

... the one who is having tummy ache now :[

Goodbye...

Noone to be my dinner companion when everybody else has appointment
Noone for me to fetch when I drive past Queensway
Noone to go IKEA with me at a moment's notice
Noone to generously give her Cranberry sauce when we have Swedish meatballs at IKEA
Noone to help me wash dishes after dinner
Noone to patiently help to fix my errant computer or internet
Noone to watch horror movie with
Noone to accompany me to visit Woodlands or Amber cousins
Noone to confide to when I am irritated by my brother
Noone to discuss with me regarding family related matters
Noone to accompany me to blade at the canal
Noone to help me out when there is visiting relatives/family
Noone to navigate me when I am driving

........................... there has been a big void since this person left my life
.................. suddenly it feels so weird in the person's absence
........... I wish the person happiness in her new world
...... and that she will realize her dreams
... and everything else she longs for

...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...

























... the one who will be missing you lots
Your sister

PS: In case you are thinking the unimaginable, my sister has moved to Japan since 30 June 2006 to pursue further studies.

10 things I learnt after my Siem Reap and Hanoi trip

Siem Reap (visited 30 June - 2 Jul 06)
1. People here send SMS in english because the handphones are not configured in Cambodian language
2. The water seems to smell like rust
3. No communication problem. Almost everyone you need to speak to, speaks English. And mind you, it's with good american accent
4. Hammocks are provided in restaurants for diners to take a rest








5. Happy Pizza is no longer available :(
6. People here may be poor but they are honest and easy-going
7. Some people are so poor they can't even afford clothing for the children


8. The plain of Lake Tonle Sap floods every year during July. Ironically, peak period will be during this period! But sadly, many children drowned during this period





9. Everyone knows who is Angelina Jolie and Tomb Raider DVDs are sold everywhere
10. According to their religion belief, Cambodians are not supposed to donate blood. Due to this, many sick children die because of lack of supply of blood in hospitals.

Hanoi (visited 7 Jul - 9 Jul 06)
1. Motorists (cars and motorcycles) horn continuously. Take away the horns, they won't be able to drive!
2. Vietnamese are generally ruder than Cambodians. They are impatient and shout alot too. I was kicked by a man when he way trying to push his motorbike out of the parking lot and I was blocking his way












3. Serious communication problem! Have to resort to sign language and pictionary





4. Guards won't take picture with tourists, be it green-uniformed guards or white guards
5. Doner Kebab is a must-eat here. Get it from Old Quarter next to market
6. Bus and Boat are pronounced in the same way, which is: Bak. So you will get really confused when you sign up for Bus with Boat tour
7. A same tour package can range from US$17 to US$70. So book wisely! And do not be surprised if the deal you get in the end is far from what was promised at the point of booking
8. Things are cheaper in Hanoi than Siem Reap because Hanoi still uses their local Dong whereas in Siem Reap, everything is priced in US$



9. It's really difficult to find COLD coke in and around Hanoi









10. Many of the locals still have a long way to go when it comes to etiquettes to be observed in an aeroplane






... the one who urgently needs to go to the loo now

How much do you love me?

Rating: ***
Cast: Monica Bellucci, Bernard Campan, Gérard Depardieu
Genre: Dramatic Comedy

Watched on 23 Jul 05 at Plaza Sing with Chup, Wil and Li

Very sexy but totally mindless

CABARET the musical

Rating: ***
Cast: Fei Xiang, Emma Yong, Karen Tan, Jason Chan, Daniel Jenkins

Watched on 22 Jul 06 at Esplanade with Chup.

I particularly love Fei Xiang's performance as Emcee! He's really good with the right accent at the right moment. Emma's singing is quite impressive too. For a local production, I would say we are doing quite well. Some scenes left me quite bored and sleepy though...

the one who will let Chup comment more about the musical...

The good news; it is staged here. That’s no mean feat. The other good news; the play is a separate and different work, as good as if not more captivating than the movie. There’s no Mein Herr, no bisexual love triangle, the other couple in love are older and simpler, and they don’t have happy ending like the movie. (In the movie, the non-Jew converted to Judaism and they get married in a synagogue.) They also had lovely songs that the movie did not have.

The bad news, like the movie, it is not a very likable musical, partly because it was not meant to be. It is a musical with an “issue”, and the lighter moments are like sugar to coat over the bitter pill. The second act is dark and despairing, hence it is also mercifully short. The other bad news is Emma Yong sings the theme song Cabaret like she was singing the National Anthem. There was no modulating the speed, no lowering of eyelids, not huskiness, no fire, no connection with the audience; just a school girl rooted to a spot and made to sing a song memorized by rote. Yes, she was different from characters she has played in other musicals, but why should that matter? She wore red underwear in one number, but her body language said, please end this soon. It was painful to watch her. But then again, she has the unenviable task of living up to a legendary performance. The 1972 movie won 8 Oscars including one for Minnelli’s high voltage sizzle. Liza Minnelli immortalized the character of Sally Bowles with slurred speech from too many cigarettes and liquor, with what we would now call the Jack Sparrow looniness. Liza was Sally in real life, all sex and booze. Emma was the amatuer pretender. The Straits Times and Today had reviews that praise Emma Yong’s performance. They were far too kind. I was kind to her in what I wrote of The Man of Letters and A Twist of Fate. But not here. (Sadly, the 1997 interview of Liza Minnelli showed the sorry state of her voice. She was a spent force way before her time.)

Can I be kinder? Yes. It was wonderful, marvelous theatre, darlink. It was never dull, even when the German-accented dialogue was undecipherable. Pity the serious miscasting of Emma Yong as Sally Bowles.

Chup

Pirates of the Caribbean (Dead Man's Chest)

Rating: ***1/2
Cast: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley
Genre: Action, Adventure

Watched on 14 Jul 06 with Chup at Plaza Sing

Surprisingly, I quite liked it... Many, including Chup, felt that the 1st one was better.

Chup: It's like watching an extended Jackie Chan movie. Jackie Chan's movies are really the successor of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd movies.... So if you think about it, Pirates of the Caribbean II is really a frentic silent movie at its heart, but pumped full of unceasing loud noises.

King and the Clown

Rating: ***1/2
Cast: Lee Joon-ki , Kam Woo-sung , Jung Jin-young , Kang Sung-yeon
Genre: Korean Drama Adventure

Watched on 11 Jul 06 at Plaza Sing with Chup

The Korean version of "Brokeback Mountain". The 'female' lead, Lee Joon-Ki, looked really beautiful on screen!

Another new article on DATUM: KL2006

There's something wrong with our blog site and we're having difficulty posting images... But here's another article finished this week, on something I attended in KL 2 weeks ago. This will be published in a magazine next month.

"This year, the theme of PAM’s (Malaysian Institute of Architects) 4th international architecture convention, DATUM: KL 2006, is “About Making.” Held in the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre over 2 days from 7-8 July, it is set to become one of the biggest architectural conventions in the region, attended by more than 700 participants who are mostly architects but which includes developers, academicians and students. Most came for the talks, where each of the invited speakers was given over an hour of lectern time, but there were also concurrent events taking place in the same venue. This includes the KLi.d. Forum 06, with 4 speakers tackling the theme of “Making Design”, and 2 building product exhibitions; DEX06 and ARCHITEX06; spread over the entire ground floor, with a section which showcases recent works by Singapore’s “20 Under 45” architects.

On the face of it, the theme of the convention seems to imply an emphasis on the craft and techniques of construction, but its tagline posits something more general: “Architecture is not only about making tangible things such as drawings and buildings. It is also about making intangible things; making dreams come true, making innovations; making homes and places.” Expressed this way, it is a theme wide-ranging enough to allow its 10 key speakers of both new and established architects a free rein to address a diverse range of issues, with the happy result that their projects and their peculiar context could be discussed in depth. The works are truly global in range, from interiors in New York and London to hotels in Dubai, Bhutan and Kyoto, apartments in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Dhaka, and cultural complexes in Shenzhen and Seoul, and they dealt with the current hot topics of the landscape, sustainability, growth, context, tectonics and art. What is to be lauded is that the focus is very much on design, particularly of the kind by the young vanguards, with the underlying message by PAM’s president, Dr Tan Loke Mun, that good design sells. “Design creates added value,” he said, “and gives an edge to a product or an environment.”

The selection of international speakers reflects this “edge”, with 3 of them the recipients of last year’s Design Vanguard awards chosen by Architectural Record, and 1 of them the prizewinner of last year’s Architectural Review “Emerging Architects” award. (One of the younger speakers, Daniel Rosbottom from the UK, quipped that all the projects he has ever completed could be made to fit inside the auditorium we were seated in.) The ‘senior statesman’ of the group, and its most poetic proponent of making architecture, is Singapore-based Kerry Hill, who anchored the last talk of the conference. With its mixture of youthful vigour and mature excellence, the speakers collectively dole out a sumptuous feast of architecture in all its manifestations.

Kerry Hill was easily the most eloquent of the speakers, as he took his time to reflect on over 25 years of consummate practice. He sees himself as toeing the fine balance between the extremes of regionalism and universalism. Tipping in favour of either could result in a skin-deep parochialism or lost amidst the rootless forces of globalizations. Perhaps conscious of how easily his forte of hotel design can be undervalued as thematic attractions, he took pains to articulate some defining values he works towards for all his designs. “There are 2 qualities I have come to admire in architecture. One is exactitude and the other is authenticity,” he said. An exacting design is one imbued with precision, when no more could be added, and no less taken. And authenticity is linked with the question of “origins”, sought out almost intuitively, and something we “feel comfortable” in. “The uniqueness of a place must be allowed to surface- for architecture involves the actuality of things and speaks to the senses- it cannot rely on image alone.” He offers his work as being contemporary and “current”, but “sieved through tradition.” It is a diverse body of work where the rectilinear plan is the unifying signature, based on the most severe vocabulary of modernism. The test bed appears to have been his houses, of which only 10 have been completed over a 25-year period. In these domestic designs, ideas about materials, textures, the water bodies and the integration of building with nature are fine-tuned in a concentrated way. In glimpses of his works, delegates will perhaps be reminded of what had drawn them to practice and love architecture in the first place; an uncompromising vision in the service of beauty and place.

The sense of place was also the defining theme with Bangladeshi architect Md Rafiq Azam, although it is one filtered with painterly eyes. “Even today, I consider myself a PAINTER by conviction and an ARCHITECT by chance,” he said. “In fact, when we think about landscape, water, climate, culture, and history and human - no matter how we express, it is all about art, if you can look at it that way. It’s all about feelings, the harvest field, water flowing over the breeze, blooming flowers in spring, meadows with downing sun and ruins of memories.” He was particularly inspiring when he set the scene for a project he offered to do in the slums of Dhaka for no fees from the developer on the condition that his design was not to be changed. In a very tight parcel of land, the resulting “Kazedewan Apartment Building” addressed and resolved problems of social spaces at the street level, healthy air flow with elevated planters and water courts, privacy for women-folk in a highly populated area, and even a place to celebrate the rain. Construction materials and technology were also designed to suit the local work culture. It was a demonstration of community architecture and social activism at its best.

Should an award be given for mastery use of limited spaces, it must go to Gary Chang from Hong Kong. It is again a mastery that is the direct result of the context; the suffocating congestion that is Hong Kong. Gary candidly shared about the 4x8m apartment he has lived in all his life, first with his parents and 3 siblings, and then wholly his when they moved out in his 30s. Sleeping in the living room only after everyone else has retired, his childhood obsession was to own a room to call his own. When the apartment was finally all his, he meticulously reorganized every component around it, redefining the basic division of where a space begins and ends according to the frequency of usage, time of day, lighting and movable objects. He became an expert in layering and storing things to the point of their non-existence. These ideas were brought to the fullest realization in the experimental “Suitcase House” built at the Commune by the Great Wall, where every tangible and utilitarian object are stored beneath openable floor panels and completely out-of-sight until they are needed. Beds, bath tub, kitchen counters, and all furniture are sunken beneath unmarked floor boards that close to leave the entire house practically empty for most of the time. The ingenious project is now a part of the permanent collection of the Pompidou Centre.

Unlike Hong Kong, Tokyo has a different kind of chaos that is not entirely the result of density. It was a kind of urban cacophony that Taira Nishizawa used as a frame of reference for his urban projects, allowing a measured degree of messiness while unifying the disparate elements under a larger matrix of grid. It is an approach best typified by the random placement of windows and balconies inserted onto the plain façades of the Chofu Housing projects he completed in Tokyo. The grid was also the principle means of ordering a stunning multi-purpose complex he designed for the Tomochi Forestry Hall. Viewed from the top, it is appears to be a conventional space-framed hall with regular spans. Viewed spatially in its entirety however, and the structure becomes altogether more complex and expressionistic. It is also entirely original, a hybrid structure of light-gauge steel combined with the local cedar and designed to showcase the agile character of the latter. Again, the sense of an ordered kind of disorder underlies its creation.

Perhaps the most prolific of the younger architects is China’s Liu Xiaodu and it is symptomatic of his country’s pace of change that a firm set up a mere 7 years ago could list completed office towers, public parks, large residential developments, art museums and schools in its portfolio. Unlike the self-contained “object” buildings of Nishazawa, the works of Liu’s Urbanus Architecture & Design are often massive interventions in the urban fabric. They have to grapple with the phenomenal growth of Shenzhen, where their office is based, which grew from a fishing town of 50,000 residents a mere 30 years ago, to its population of over 5 million in the central region today. The accompanying problems of rampant redevelopment and break-neck construction, particularly in Shenzhen’s squatter colonies of 10x10m housing blocks, has prompted Liu to self-commission his office to propose rejuvenating masterplans to the government. Even as some of these plans appear fanciful, they are in an enviable position of re-examining and applying the utopian theories of Modernism onto a far-too-real and needy setting. The danger, as cautioned by George Kunihiro, the conference’s moderator from Japan, is one of preserving the quality of output in the midst of a boom-time economy.

Other speakers at the conference were Junsung Kim from Korea, Anthony Piermarinri and Hansy Better Barraza from USA, and Chris Wong and Lim Teng Ngiom from Malaysia. They variously dealt with the theme of “making”, with personal visions that remain on familiar terrain, rather than radical breakthroughs that quake the profession. This is, perhaps, as it should be. So the deepest impression one gleans from the harvest of topics is not any singular agenda but a pleasant plurality of voices, some young and hungry, others pensive and polemical, all enlarging the discourse of making architecture in very specific conditions, while yet retaining the tone and tenor of the larger, well-worn language of Modernism. "

Chup

New Article

It's been a while, but I just completed another review of a building in Putrajaya. It'll be published in a magazine next month...

"The Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment (MNRE) building in Putrajaya is one of a quartet of buildings formed along the central boulevard of the city that marks the transition between the official part of town from its more commercial parts. The masterplanning for this urban junction was won by Veritas Architects in 2000 and they were subsequently given the commission to design a quarter of its components.

The masterplan envisages 4 podium-cum-tower developments that are related on plan in such as way that the form of the 4 towers are circumscribed by the intersection between 6 imaginary circles. In the absence of any urban context in the then barren landscape, this geometric device gave the development a much needed mode of formal organization. The masterplan had been about the creation of a context that would hold its own presence along the pageant of architectural heavyweights that fronts the boulevard. (Its limitation is then that any expansion or alterations to these 4 buildings would mar their present coherence.) But each individual building in this group is given the flexibility to project its own identity through its façade treatment. Their common denominator is that of a podium block which wraps around the tower block in an L-shaped manner. In turn, the 18-storey tower is detached from the podium by a strip of naturally-ventilated atrium which reaches all the way down to the ground of a naturally-ventilated basement. Double-volume arcades ring the first storey of the podium block. Due consideration has also been given for the users who arrive by bus in the form of a bus stop incorporated along one side of the podium, and pedestrians would immediately be ushered into a defined but sheltered walkway, yet the reality is that most users arrive by car, as with the rest of the city. An underground rail link is planned to run beneath the street of the boulevard with perhaps a station to serve the 4 offices in the future, but for the present, the population of this surreal city which numbers around 50,000 in the daytime, could hardly warrant any urgency in its construction. (Just why then does the governmental buildings here reach up to 18-storeys in hugely vacant surroundings is another one of those debatable aspects about the city. One would have thought that high-rise congestion was the key reason why the government has opted to move out of Kuala Lumpur in the first place.)

Generally, buildings planned to be a part of a centralized pattern are not ideally suited to counter solar heat gain by minimizing its east-west façade. The orientation of the 4 towers blocks are such that should one pair be least exposed to the sun’s path, the other pair will suffer the opposite. The MNRE falls within the pair that has it good. Its almond shaped tower is aligned along its longer length towards the east and west axis.

The structure is basically reinforced concrete frame with an external layer of intumescent-painted steel-framed corridor around the podium block. These external corridors are also naturally-ventilated, and because they are not superfluous (in that they replace the internal circulation space within the office) they also reduce the overall air-conditioning load of the office. Additionally, they provide another sun-shading zone to the glazed facades. On the west façade, the corridors are mounted with sliding timber-louvred screen panels, and these can be moved manually to increase the effective cooling. A flip side to such a strategy is the marginal lost of window views for occupants who sit next to these corridors, and who might themselves be subjected to a sense of exposure to passers-by. This layout is thus utilized only for the offices of the podium block.

Environmental-friendly features for the tower block includes locating the service core to the eastern edge of the shaft, with the theory that the eastern face is on the whole warmer than the western side in Malaysia, because it rains more often in the afternoons than in the mornings. It is also on this finding that there are minimal sun-shading device found on the western edge of the tower block, when compared with its heavily shaded podium directly below it, and this gives the tower-podium a somewhat incongruous relationship. Internally, giving the office tower a side service-core also frees up the floor plan for a more efficient office layout. No spot of the workspace is more than 12m away from the windows.

On plan, the tip of the eastern shaft is also dedicated to outdoor roof gardens, and there a one of these for every 3 floors. The open gardens envelop a steel fire-escape staircase which is well-ventilated against smoke build-up. They are welcomed areas of respite for office workers and are particularly well-used in the afternoons.

Greenery is also the key feature of the curved atrium between tower and podium. Offices that face the atrium are fully-glazed, with views to the bamboos planted across the space. The richness of joints, materials and light levels, and the way the sun-shading louvers are progressively reduced the further one gets into this arcaded spine, are all indications of the sensible thinking and effort that goes into making this atrium the building’s most satisfying place.

80% of the materials used for the building are produced locally. The marble facing is quarried in Borneo, the timber is local Balau, and the aluminium strip ceiling panels are the same one produced and used so extensively in the Kuala Lumpur International Airport- complete with timber colour and grain. Throughout, the steel detailing is expressed with confidence, although the workmanship can be found wanting at various places. A recurring motif is the splayed wedge, the vertical line that tilts slightly towards its side, and this can be discerned in the fenestration patterns, stainless steel weather screens, aluminium brise-soleil, and even in the massing of the tower itself. It is a slant that it is intended to be an allusion to the traditional weaving pattern of the “ikat” fabric, and it is most evident on the steel screen mounted on the wall of the northern corridor. Whatever its basis, the motif does introduce a sense of dynamism to a composition that is predominantly orthogonal.

Uncharacteristically, the building has none of the more obvious motifs and decorations that so pervades the other buildings found in Putrajaya. By comparison, it possesses a sense of corporate calmness, almost to the point of blandness, which is not entirely inappropriate to its function and setting. The interest is instead generated at the street level, where a rich interplay of materials and details are on display. In a street of prima donnas, being low-key and inconspicuous is one way to command the quiet respect it so naturally deserves. It heralds a maturing architecture for Veritas Architects that tempers the International Style with a truer sense of place than many of the other buildings on offer in Putrajaya."

Chup

The WINE Pack

Don’t let the sweet demure smiles deceive you. These are all Indonesian-Chinese, bankers and killer drinkers. Long after the floor start spinning under my feet, they can continue drinking and walking straight. They are adept at both Singlish and Indonish. They can roll their tongues as well as Julie Andrews and say “badder” instead of “better”, “usurl” instead of “usual” and sing “Tuesday” to the tune of “Juicy”.

The grouping was formed by accident, over a betting pool on who will get knocked off American Idol each week. Soon a treasurer was needed to keep track of who won and who lost. Being compulsive tabulators, the treasurer’s report comes with Excel spreadsheet with graphs and pie chart. An e-newsletter was started and only the elite, in-crowd, trendy, fashionable, popular and stylish were given the password. The common fund would be spent on drinks. And since there was none who could out-drink a certain girl from Jakarta, she was anointed President of the WINE Foundation. (Can you finish a bottle and a half of wine and still tell jokes in fluent Hokkien? Posers need not apply.) Being the least steady on my feet and having no LV handbag or Gucci purse in my possession, I’m only the occasional guest star to the set.

Fortunately, I was privileged to be at one of the member’s apartment for some home-cooked Indonesian dinner one night. Said member lives in posh condo off River Valley Rd, on a high floor overlooking the town. Said member ordinarily private and shy, but otherwise the nicest and most considerate of persons. Once, taking a ride in our car, she took out her curlers and used it on her hair for a while and afterwards asked, “Curlers, anyone?”, as if that was the most natural thing to do.

Said person’s sister has recently given birth and the WINE foundation had something to drink to on the occasion of the baby, whose name is Ethan, born of Indonesian-Chinese mother and French-Vietnamese father, celebrating his first month.











The president who was very alert, later wrote, in a very presidential way, “We were VERY DELIGHTED to be part of this BIG event at the comfort of said member’s home. The food was delicious and we ate every single morsel of mee sua that we were offered with great speed. Ethan of course was the highlight of the occasion though it was just for a short moment we were acquainted.” As a token of our exclusivity, we sat down for a formal, restrained and sober portrait… As mentioned above, do not be deceived by the sweet smiles…

Chup

Beruang Kutub

This is a special girl from Central Aceh, Sumatra. She’s seven, lively and intelligent. She’s also well-behaved and when I told her not to see the polar bear because it was going to rain, she didn’t make a fuss, but agreed to give it a miss, even though I knew she wanted to see it. (She’d said “beruang kutub” when we passed the polar bear sign.) It's not that she doesn't know how to insist on things; when she wants to, her voice is as loud as the loudest parrot she saw this afternoon, a fact that she herself acknowledged. But she’s special because she has a heart condition, some problem with the valves, and she can’t exert herself too much. She’s a good friend of my in-laws in Aceh, and they brought her to Malaysia for routine check-up and then came down to stay with us for the weekend.

So we went to the zoo today, but the Sunday was anything but. It was so dark, I had to set my film speed to ISO 800, and compensated +0.3 brightness, but it was still too slow to capture motion. (I ought to have used manual and set the shutter speed to high, but at that moment, I didn’t think of it. It’s always afterwards that it occurred to me to do that. As often happens…) But here are some shots anyway, of animals taking care of their kin.

The girl enjoyed herself, though the visit was cut short by rain at 3.45pm. She didn’t sleep afterwards. I just sent them to the station half an hour ago. She’ll be sleeping on the bus now, clutching her teddy bear, and perhaps thinking of its bigger, whiter cousin. When she wakes up, she'll be in Penang. And then she'll take a short flight back to Medan, and then onwards up to her hometown of Takengon, where she'll be with her kin again.

Chup

Ley Donh

He is the driver whose service we have engaged for our whole trip in Siem Reap.

Our trip was 2D2N, departing on 30 June 2006.
I went with Lina and auntie Rose.

Ley can be contacted at +855 1253 ???
I would have to mask his number to protect his privacy :)
I can give you his number separately if you wish to charter him or to develop further relationship with him.

He charges US$25 for whole day taxi charter including overtime.
His half day charge is US$15.
Venturing out to the suburbs would be US$50.
Very worth it if you are travelling in a group of 3 or more...

His service includes bringing you to the correct agencies for purchasing temple passes, boat passes, recommending good local restaurants, providing umbrellas, searching for plastic bags to protect your footwear when walking in 5-inch-thick mud and of course, going all out to find your 'favourite' pizza.

He drives a Toyota Camry.
A commonsight in Siem Reap. Everybody seems to be driving a Camry. Driver's seat is on the left which led him to conclude that his Camry is made in California. Interestingly, the car is equipped with automated seat belts! The moment one takes a seat, the seat belt will move and tighten the belt automatically! The kind you find in Nissan sports car sort! But this one is a Camry. This must have added as confirmation to Ley that his car is definitely from California. Lina complained she always got strangled by the seat belt.

Such an easygoing and carefree chap he is. Let me give some excerpts from our conversation with him as I recollect from my memory...

When asked how old he is, he said:
Oh, I am 29 years old.

Us : Wow, then you are the same age as us
Ley: Yes, yes... I am born in 1979
Us : Huh!?? Then you are not 29! You are 27
Ley: Oh? Okay okay... Because I am born in 1979

Ley brought us to Foodstall No 22 in the Angkor area.
We ate our lunch while he took a rest in the one of the many hammocks provided at the rear of the restaurant.



Later, he also went back to this No 22 to borrow umbrella.

A young attractive lady always attended to him.

Us : Ley, that girl your friend?
Ley: Yes, my friend
Us : Or is it your wife?
(He burst out laughing)
Ley: No...! I not yet married.
That lady is my friend's wife.
Us : Ooooo........
So Ley... do you have girlfriend?
Ley: Now no... But last time I have! 2 girlfriends.
Us : Wow! You mean one at a time or 2 together?
Ley: 2 together. I was in the university then
Last time Siem Reap no university, so I study in Pnom Penh
(Wow, we have a graduate taxi driver!)
Us : So what did you study in university?
Ley: Political Science
(Impressive!)
Us : and they teach you English too?
Ley: Yes, we also study English
Us : So that time you have girlfriend at home and at University?
Ley: Yes, 1 in Siem Reap, 1 in Pnom Penh.
Lifetime experience for me you know
(said Ley with a big wide smile)
But I think I will get married in 2 or 3 years time.
Us : Huh?? How? You don't even have a girlfriend yet.
How do you know you will be married in 2 to 3 years?
(Ley laughed again)
Ley: No, my parent will arrange. It is usually like this here.

Later we discovered that his parents got divorced when he was 7 years old.
He lived with his mother and has a 9 year old sister.
We suspect, the mother married another man after the divorce.
He even showed us his family photograph.
He seems to be quite well off. He said his house has 4 bedrooms.

The whole trip, we were very eager to eat Happy Pizza.
The pizza is apparently laced with M leaves that will make you feeling very happy upon consumption.
We reminded Ley again and again to bring us to eat the Pizza.
We were not lucky though.
The restaurant has since closed down :(

I think Ley could obviously see our disappointment.
He said he could get M leaves easily from the market.
For US$8, I can get this much (signalling to us a handful sign).

Ley: I don't really like to eat Happy Pizza
Us : Why?
Ley: Because after that I cannot do anything.
I just sleep the whole day. It is too strong!
(Gee, sounds scary!)
Ley: So I usually cook soup
Us : Huh? What soup? Happy soup with the M leaves?
Ley: Yes (He laughed again) More healthy like that.
Us : So is it with meat or what?
Ley: Yes, sometime I put beef, sometime I put chicken.
Then I add onion, carrot...
Us : Oh, so your mother cook the soup for you?
Ley: Yes, my mother cook soup. But her soup is not the happy one.
Only when I cook myself then I will cook Happy Soup
(We couldn't answer anymore because we were rolling on the floor laughing at what he just said)
Us : Ley, the tour guides here all have license?
Ley: Yes, they all have
Us : They study tourism?
Ley: Yes, they will study in university. Then they get the licence. Every year they must renew

On Day 2, he told us...

Ley: I asked my friends already. To help to look for Happy Pizza
(Obviously we were thrilled and touched by his helpfulness)
Us : Really???
Ley: Yes, I already have the leaves in my car.
Us : What? Show us show us!!
So you will ask your friends to make the pizza?
Please remind your friend, a little happy will do.
Normal happy. Not SUPER happy, okay?
(He laughed again)






When we were having coffee at La Grand Cafe at the French Quarters,
Ley arrived with another car full of his gangster looking friends!
We were quite scared at this point. He is taking it so seriously?
From the 2nd floor of the cafe, we could spy on their whereabout easily.

4 of them walked to don't know where.
Half an hour later they were back.
Lina said they bought carrot, onion and cucumber!!!

They are gonna cook Happy Soup???!??!
What if they spike the Soup?
What if they put a lot a lot of M leaves?
Have we played the game too far?
I kept reminding Lina to check the balance of M Leaves in the car so that we know how much they have added into the soup.

In the end, we worried and suspected for nothing.
We discovered later that they were just going to cook themselves some dinner that night without any M leaves.
Ley and a few other friends who are also taxi drivers shared and rented a room in the city. The room serves as their resting and shower place when they are working. Of course, they will also sleep there if they party the night away and become too drunk to be presentable for their mothers at home.

Ley is always punctual.
He is either too early or he will be on the DOT.
So we found it quite strange that on the morning of Day 3, he was not at his usual spot waiting for us. Instead it was 1 of his gangster looking friends who was there waiting!

A nice guy he turned out to be.

He said, they drank beer the night before and Ley couldn't wake up.
Ley made this friend (his name is SKY - the best looking gangster friend) promised that he will pick us up at the hotel to send us to the airport.
Sky kept his promise promptly, like any true blue gangster would... :)

...the one who is waiting for the clock to strike 5.30pm

MESS !!

Can you believe this mess is created by only 2 occupants of the house??

...the one who thought my mom was just exaggerating when she said my house is messy

In perspective

Coming back from my recent trip to Siem Reap (Cambodia), my colleagues and I made some observation that put us in a better perspective. Look out for more on Cambodia in my later entries.

I would just summarize some of our findings here:

1. Lina and I thought Cambodia is so nice we definitely want to go again.
So we plan that our next trip shall be to Pnom Penh (Cambodia), then drop by to
Vientiane (Laos). But as you can see from the map, that is quite impossible.
It is actually nearer to go Vientiane from Hanoi or even Bangkok!

2. Pei2 asked how come go Siem Reap so fast (1.5 hour flight) while Hanoi take so 'nong'?
If you refer to map, the question is easily answered.

3. Pnom Penh is nearer to Singapore than Siem Reap. Ho Chi Minh is even nearer.
And Bangkok is technically the furthest from us when we compare these 4 cities.

4. Jet Star flies to both Pnom Penh and Siem Reap. Silk Air flies to both cities too.

5. Thai Airways flies Singapore - Vientianne (transit Bangkok) for a whooping S$619 after tax.
Might as well add a hundred or two and fly to London!

...the enlightened one

Al Hamra
Add: Changi Airport, Terminal 1, Departure Hall
Rating: ****
Price: around S$15/pax

Ate on 2 Jul 06 after returning from Siem Reap.













Chicken Wrap, Parsley mix and my favourite Humous (made of blended chick peas with olive and lemon). This is called Sampler A











Close up of the chicken wrap












Grilled chicken, Parsley mix and of course, Humous (Sampler B)











Close up of the grilled chicken

...the one who is watching a goalless match between Germany and Italy. 3 more minutes before 90 minutes mark is up

Superman Returns

This is not of review of the new movie. This is about nostalgia. When Lini and I watched the movie a few nights ago, she started to close her eyes within 10 minutes. Within 15 minutes, we could hear her light snoring (the movie was pretty quiet in the opening farm scenes). On the other hand, I was in paradise. I was transported back to the time when I was exactly the same age as the students I taught last year, i.e. 16 years old. Now I used to keep a diary when I was younger, and I dug up the pages a few months ago, to read was I was like in 1981, and also to try to understand my students better. And I came across this entry, dated 26 July 1981, written almost exactly 25 years ago in the small town of PJ. And I’m reading it again now. I think you will understand just what “Superman Returns” means to those who are watching it and yet old enough to have seen the original Reeve series in the cinemas. It’s not the merits of the new Superman movie that run through the mind of these viewers; it’s more like, time stood still and they are back in that innocent era when the world was full of possibilities because they hadn’t yet boxed themselves in with a career, a mortgage and a destiny.

“26 July 1981: Went to see ‘Superman II’ at 3.15 in (sic) Sentosa. Had to queue up. Still the show was worth it. Super magic. Only complain was the show was cut at regular intervals by 8 blackouts. Audiences shouted and screamed. This affected the flow and continuity of the story & it bugged me. Hence, I didn’t enjoy the film to its fullest extend.
Had there been no blackouts, it would have been a good story. Not entirely believable but nevertheless beautiful. Beautiful music. Beautiful effects & colour. Beautiful Christopher Reeve. In fact, I can’t think of a scene that was unnecessary, to the story that is. It was overall well composed and edited.
For me, the most memorable scenes were those that involved the 3 villians (sic).
1) The fight between Superman and Non under the city of Metropolis which resulted in Non being flung out of a manhole up towards and through a building.
2) Ursa flying over an astronaut to land in front of him.
3) Non, Urza & Zod breaking free from the Phantom Zone.
4) Zod walking on water.
Of course there were a lot of less believable parts.
1) Army closing on the 3 villians (sic) in non battle formation.
2) Lois Lane slipping into “something more comfortable” in the artic coldness.
3) Luthor being able to obtain projecting gadgets in prison.
4) Luthor being able to find the Fortress of Solitude.
5) Snake being able to bite Ursa when Lois hurt her hand punching her.
6) Superman conquest over the villains in the Fortress of Solitude, i.e. how did he know he was going to talk Luthor into double crossing him? How is it that the villains didn’t feel or suspect their powers draining away from them?
7) And others… etc.
But who cares about logic when there is action, story & fun?
Things have changed though.
This is the 80s.
Superman goes to bed with Lois Lane.
Lois Lane smokes!
Marlboro truck is crashed by Superman.
All in all, 100% entertainment with capital E.”

“Superman Returns” was conceived as a continuation from “Superman II”. That’s part of its problem, because it has failed to update the franchise. It’s still the unambiguous, light-hearted, 2-dimensional, long-drawn movie from 25 years ago, but without the dash and fun. And Lois Lane is still trying to smoke. But in being reverential to Christopher Reeve, it served up a whole lot of flashbacks for those who now missed those golly jolly days.

Chup

Deviated Nasal Septum

Learned a new phrase today- "deviated nasal septum". It's the bone that supports the nose angled to one side instead of being in the centre. Then there are these shapes around the air passage called "turbinates" that can swell as an allergic reaction against things like, well, dryness and dust mites from one's bedsheets. Now when the deviation is toward, say, the right, and the turbinate on the right side happened to be swollen as well, then you get a blocked air passage.

The thing is, air-conditioned air can be too dry for the nose, and changes in humid air and dry air can cause one to sneeze. And dust mite will confound the problem. One way to moisturise the air is to have a humidifier in the room, or else hang a wet towel in the air-con space. And it seems that we should wash our bed-sheets once a week, and we should put it in hot water for 10-15 minutes first before washing them in the machine, cause the hot water in the washing machine is not hot enough to kill the damn mites. The good news is that swollen turbinates are reversible; with anti-histamine pills, nasal spray, wetter air and cleaner sheets. But deviated nasal septum, like scoliosis, is more or less nature's gift. We learn to live with it, and be very thankful that a blocked passage is not an indication of something much more serious. Breathe easy now...

Chup