Shanghai Updates

I know this is kidda late, given that i'm only left with less than a week before i return back to singapore but here is an update of my life in Shanghai...

My work has been getting quite intensive, with steep learning curve. It's not so much of skills issue but rather the work processes and workflow needs some time to get used to. Have been researching on golf courses in shenzhen for their bienalle exhibition and designing a semi d house in singapore. well, it's quite an eye opener, looking at the amount of things that needs to be done, and there is in fact very little time to really design anything, most of the time, it's just preparing drawings for clients, without much design. have been leaving after midnight everyday for the past 1.5 wks. i didn't really see this working lifestyle coming, but my bosses say that they are giving me an intensive experience, in the hope that i can learn as much as possible. I guess since this is only an internship, i wouldn't mind this hectic lifestyle for a few wks but i certainly do not want such an IB working hours without an IB paycheck in future though. but maybe i'll have no choiec in future too...

apart from work, this past 3wks plus has been an eye opener for me, in terms of the society in shanghai in general. well, i can basically classify the society into 2 categories, the expats and the locals. so some extent, i do quite enjoy the life of the locals, i enjoy talking to my local colleagues and eat cheaply like a local and explore local areas... but the local environment isn't very pleasing. hearing horns going off every time the taxi crosses a junction and having them cursing at other drivers, isn't very appealing. i think the buses are worse though, the bus driver seems to be a very unhappy man, cursing and swearing without fail every morning during the rush hour. the zheng1 xian1 kong3 hou4 idiom is also best exemplified through taking their subways. not that i'm very put off with these kind of attitudes but rather, i guess its not very healthy to start a family here, given the tonnes of negative examples a kid will be exposed to. to cap things off, the summer heat and pollution is taking a toll on me but thanks to the downpour during the week, the hazy skies have cleared off and it seems cleaner now, but i guess the haze will be back again. apprarently i heard that pollution in shanghai isn't as bad as other cities.

now to the expats lifestyle. my landlord and landlady owns two apartments, beside each other, i'm living with the landlord, while another fellow singaporean law intern lives with the landlady (my landlord's gf). well, they are kindda living an expat lifestyle (okie there is no specific definition of an expat lifestyle but i will try to define it) it surrounds entertaining people, partying most of your week away. going for organised pool parties where their real intentions (sex) are expressed on their faces and actions. they would have house parties too, talk about orgies (i have not witnessed any, but i wouldn't really be surprised given that they showed me 'evidences of love making' on the sofa. kind of put off, but to make things worse, it's not very nice to see people making out on the sofa too and seeing them walking about in their semi lingeries. most of the time, my neighbour intern would come over to my place to watch dvd instead, while our landlord and landlady hanky panky. oh well, i would hope to believe that this is an exceptional example that i've came across. oh well, i've come to a conclusion that being an expat, you gotta have a family and kids, if you're single, leading the high life, you may possibly end up partying all the time, given the fact that you do not have any committments in a foreign land.

all in all, shanghai is definitely a nice city to tour and live in, you'll get a varied shopping experience, delicious food, chic trendy gentrified areas. however, to settle down here for long, i would think otherwise.

no time for rest

I realised that i am not that free after my final jury presentation though, been rushing around to prepare for our exhibition. Seems like I won't really get to rest till 7 Jul. helping out in 2 more archi projects before i return home too...

anw, for more information about my final jury crit, see Soho Hectare.

Perfomance so far...

I just realised that this website is so cool, it tracks like every single competition.

I'm only ranked 115 for long jump. I will probably move up till 40th place if I clear my target...

Of Cats and House

i bought 20 packs of chips so that i can fatten my cat up... anyway, there is a real cat in my house too... it sneaks into my house and trots around proudly, as if the house belongs to it... oh well... maybe i shall splash water at it... muahahaha... okie, here are pics of my house...

Songs I

was having a music weekend, listening to the entire discography of stefanie sun and emil chow, not to forget eric moo, wu yin liang pin, power station and of cuz x japan. thanx to yu for tempting idea of downloading the piano scores for x japan songs...

check out the unreleased version of tears, it's definitely a more soulful version
http://www.myspace.com/yoshiki

and here are the great clips...

Tears - the original recording


Endless Rain - Final Live

is 7m really that difficult?

seriously, is it that difficult to break the 7 meter barrier? i dun think so. competitions after competions, i see people running slower than me, taking off without so much height, clearing 7m. it just makes the whole 7m target so easy. but why can't i clear it? i guess it only proves one point, i have a very inefficient conversion of speed into my jumping distance. i need to have the break through..

My cat

I have a cat. Her name is meowmeow. I love her a lot. meoooooowww

this is me...

i know i should be doing work but i was thinking how do my jumps look like, perhaps this is the closest it can get... been watching loads of jumping videos and they've been kindda inspiring...

wrecked hamstring

today's long jump performance was decent at least, but triple was totally gone, i think i wrecked my hamstring during the entire training sessions building up to the season. gotta see the physio soon, but its 50 pounds for an hour. anyway, i guess i'm not training during this whole competition season, but its kind of ironic that performace gets better through competition rather than training. ranked 4th, but i'm happy cuz today seems to be one of the best competitions i have ever had.

1st: 7.51m
2nd: 7.05m
3rd: 6.75m
me: 6.62m

i was 2nd during my last attempt before this guy took a giant leap and massacred us with his 7.5m jump and this young lad edged me out with his new pb. but 6.62 with a wrecked hamstring and a bad landing, i'm quite pleased. a few cm away from my personal best, but i guess it'll be shattered soon, 3 more major meets to soar past 7... it isn't that far away...

Defining Idol

Koolhaas, Pritzker Prize Winner 2000 (the equivalent of the nobel prize for architecture). It pretty much explains why there was a long queue outside the school yesterday.

schedule = busy?

busy hols? i have no idea...

here's a breakdown of my time..

10 jul - 18 jul: spore
19 jul - 24 jul: hk
25 jul - 24 aug: spore
25 aug - 2 sep: shanghai (tentative)
3 sep - 21 sep: spore
22 sep - 25 sep: doha
26 sep: london

oh well, i'm not so sure if i wanna slack or pack my time likedat... thinking of having an internship and going for the shanghai summer school... i guess it would be really fun... but then again, i'm prolly gonna zou huo ru mo... archi seems sooooo lovable but i hope it doesn't engluf my life... maybe i should just slack for 2mths...

anwway, i have a really nice new house with a garden, a mini glass house balcony, a great kitchen, parking lots and a bbq pit... muahahaha... come over and we can party...

well, check these artistes out, they're quite good...


emily loizeau - je sui jalouse (i'm jealous)
whimsical song with fantastic animations by this 20 year old guy... (www.myspace.com/bridlefilms)


imogen heap - just for now
acapella by a single person

critical review

okie... it's review time... as some of you might know, i was back training again since last winter and the competition season is here... some competitions are important and some are not, but there're a total of 9 of them in and out of london, i guess it's kindda interesting and fun to travel around to compete in grand prix locations... however, the level of competition isn't really that high here, especially for field events, it's probably like an advance level of a div standards... review of first two competition performances...

BAD! TOTALLY BAD!

that's really bad. think it's partly due to my hamstring strain, but i shouldn't use this as an excuse too... and i can probably be the most consistant jumper...

comp 1: 6.21, 6.23, 6.27, 6.26, 6.27, 6.29 (this is the most consitent competition results that i have ever had)
comp 2: 6.34

what lousy distances, perhaps this is only the beginning of the season, i certainly hope i'll improve but anyway, i have 4 more years to build up... i'll see a 7 one day... anyway, my lousy distances gave me a 2nd and 4th position respectively... though the positions do matter for my club in getting points but personally, the distance was quite a let down... it seems that my distance is the same with 12 strides or 16 strides...

on a happier note, my triple jump was miraculously a fluke, 13m (though its a sucky distance by national sch standards, but it's just 0.22m away from my personal best) haha, and i only had one training session for it, gosh... and i came in second... which further proves the low level of competion in division one... seriously, with 13m for triple, i may not even get into top 8 for nationals in spore and with 6.3 i'm just scrapping through in top 8...

i can only pray and hope for better results in the next few competitions... next up: petersbrough and kent...

the eccentric fields are getting WEIRDER and STRONGER

omg... the fields are getting bigger and bigger... two years on, i think we've loads of fun being 'ect' and literally ect too... but life is not just about the fun elements, it's about the crux of it all, why is there 'ect' in the first place?

it's not just an abbreviation, it's a symbol, a symbol of union, love and care. i guess this union would not have been possible without God. i am really blessed to have e around, being the caretaker of the misc stuff, like being an human alarm clock, being a driver even when i'm sober but just sleepy, being a cat scratching my face to wake me up, being a great storyteller of morbid stories and suddenly burst out laughing, being a superb travel coordinator, suggesting all the coolest places on earth to me, being a director and actress in my cheesy game shows like 'last christmas' and much more... being a great heffalumps mother..

i guess it takes another ect person to understand and love an ect person and of cuz no other person can understand and share my ect-ness... i thank God for you in my life, and i hope that we can grow in His love and live a life that is blessed to others too... just like how God has made a difference to our lives and how we made a difference to each other's life, we can make a difference in others' too... let's share our ect love to others, not in the 'ect' way of cuz , but in the ect way.

though we are apart, our eccentric fields are stronger, especially with God as our satellite... it spreads across the lands and oceans...

looking through the donut

my favourite photo.

looking at life through the hole of the donut.

maybe life is like a donut, you can eat it.

maybe we should have some purple donuts.

yummy.

records are meant to be broken

it has been an honour to have you around for 8 years, you have certainly changed my life and brought loads of rippling effects together with it, but it has to go one day and it's finally gone. or maybe not. although, this is just the national juniors meet, but i guess he can replicate the same performance or even better during national schools. i was quite sad though cuz it was not broken by my junior. i guess it is inevitable that athletes will evolve, improve and better their predecessors. to a certain extent, my record was a miracle jump after all, i didn't really deserve it though, but i am honoured to have it too. i think this would be another vantage point in my life that i can be inspired by the past and look towards the future. ultimately, it is the enternal things that would last, 8 years is only a speck of a dust in eternity. fragile isn't it. the shortlived glory compared to the immeasurable memories and values that accompany it.

i guess it came at a right time, where i will be 'free' from its historical contexts and move on to pursue new targets. this is just the end of the beginning, the story continues.

9 competitions in 2 weeks time.

reborn.

Blessings

I'm blessed to have people around me, people who care for me.

Thank god for everyone.

and especially the heffalumps and heffalump mommy.

may we have more heffalumps along the way.

We are the Reason

"I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!"

Job 19:25-27

It's easter today! it doesn't seem to be about easter bunnies or eggs. but the very fact that Jesus resurrected. I guess i may have posted this song lyrics on my old blog or this blog, but i shall post it up again, it's a very meaningful song, it summarises the reason and meaning for christmas and easter; and it's my favourite christian song. Though, I am not a very emotional person, or a person easily touched by the holy spirit, but I can say that God has led me through this simple life. I don't have any ground breaking stories to share too, i wasn't a dramatic lang zi hui tou case, and it seems that my life has been quite peaceful and smooth flowing. But the very fact that he has guided me through my daily life is a blessing in itself and there are many incidents and undercurrents in life that are not just by accident, it was really by his grace that saved me. I would say there are a few 'near misses' in my life that could have gone really wrong, and i could have taken a different path in life. Once in Jun 94 and once in Aug 02. And these undercurrents (sins) continue to tempt me daily, and i certainly hope not to have any more 'near misses' cuz as we grow older, there is a higher price to pay for life, monetary, ethical, lawful issues. More importantly, God has taught me valuable lessons throughout the years; bringing me down when arrogance took control of me and providing me with miraculous stuff that i am so undeserving of. Well, it's not easy to follow him too, even in times of comfort, we keep falling back on his standards. What about in times of desperation, when i lose everything, will i still follow god? Will we be like Job?, still proclaim that we know that our redeemer lives?






We are the reason

As little children
We would dream of Christmas morn
Of all the gifts and toys
We knew we'd find
But we never realized
A baby born one blessed night
Gave us the greatest gift of our lives

We were the reason
That He gave His life
We were the reason
That He suffered and died
To a world that was lost
He gave all He could give
To show us the reason to live

As the years went by
We learned more about gifts
The giving of ourselves
And what that means
On a dark and cloudy day
A man hung crying in the rain
All because of love, all because of love

I've finally found the reason for living
It's in giving every part of my heart to Him
In all that I do every word that I say
I'll be giving my all just for Him, for Him

He is my reason to live

Lat and Est: Part 1 - Riga

the nine explorers

looming soviet horizon

main square in Riga

The occupation museum: the dark history of latvia

the londoners

the cambridge-ians

spying

old-school tram

the diesel engine train that we took

a birthday thank you...

well, i had a simple cozy birthday this year, and i would really like to thank everyone out there for your well wishes and presents...

to everyone: i'm really blessed to have you guys around!!!

to eve: thanks paul smith wallet... but i guess without the wallet, i'll still be really happy with you... or maybe not... we shall throw in the heffalumps too to complete the picture... haha...

to hk and yu: your emil chow compilation rocks and it's heartening to receive a card from you guys...

to shuj, kai, joseph, justin: thanks for the early morning birthday cake surprise. Thanx for your company all these months too...

to tsus: thanks for your inspirational philosophical black 'gerkin' tile. "when we Build, let us think that we build Forever"

to germ and shuj: thanx for introducing a new orange afro friend to the lumpiess... mr afro tasted great too...

to tsus, wes, joyce, stef, germ and shuj: thanx for another birthday cake and your musical surprise, i really enjoyed the cozy birthday celebration...


me and my afro friend...


me with lumbe and chilumlump...


the birthday band
tsus, stef, germ, joyce
wes, me, shuj

Bo Lats

The travel books were wrong. The Latvian castle ruins were not exactly dramatic, nor were its city centres captivating. Nothingness was within itself. Surrealism was at its best too, people were like computer AIs, walking around but nothing happens. Events? No events, just walking people. Imagine staying in a secluded resort, an ex-palace, the experience is simply unforgettable. Maybe the travel guide should change its description to a medical palace, instead of just a palace. It could have been one of those medical experimentation labs, given the fact that it was so run down, the water was full of iron and the doctors and patients seem weird. Leaving the god-forsaken country was coupled with the fact that we were bo-lat, no energy, no money.

Estland welcomed us with open arms, with its seemingly borderless checkpoint, though there was a held up, given the fact that we were probably one of the few singaporeans, or maybe the first few to cross the border by foot. Anyway, there is such a stark difference between the divided border city of Volga (Latvia) and Volka (Estonia); though both share the same name, but they share different fate; our dear estland is certainly more capitalised than our fellow lats. Well, we were greeted by a bunch of inqusitive Estonians, they seem very curious to see china-men walking around in their land. But we were glad that they were curious about us and treated us like some star. Hostility seem to have a linear relationship with the amount of capitalism; we were hurled with hostile comments (ching chang chong....... ) in Tartu, a semi university city filled with consumerism, but we just laughed it off, which really pissed that young punk off. Food is heavenly here in terms of prices, bread and cakes are going at 30 euro cents, a main course is going at 3.50 euro. Seriously, i doubt i can get this kind of food prices back home. Next stop, Tallinn, the soul of the Baltics.

a post on a birthday

hi guys... it's been a long time since i posted something... well, this has been an extremely busy and hectic term... mainly work and work... well, shall upload my works on another blog so that you can take a look at what i was busy with.. i think the main highlight of this term was eve visiting me in london.. oh well, couldn't really spend much time with her though but we went to trier in germany, which was full of unesco heritage sites... it was great having her around in the midst of my busy schedules... well, apart from that, there was spl which lasted for 2months... i think we were all burnt out by the 4th night... i think after all the events this term, i think i would concentrate on my archi work and track training only, cuz acting isn't really my passion i guess, though i quite like to perform... but it seems that jumping is still more for me...

photos: www.flickr.com/photos/calvinlife

archi works: solohectare.blogspot.com

the last day of 2006

what a sad way to celebrate the new year... no partying, no counting down, no watching fireworks at london eye... i guess staying at home, enjoying the cozy company of friends is also something delightful... been having quite a lot of visitors this month and i must say that i am really happy to have everyone around, it just feels like back home... thank you shujun, bryan, shining and pak for being around and having the sing along sessions too...

thank you mom, dad, aunties, uncles, cousins for calling me too!!! it's really great to hear from all of u...

by the way, chilumlump has become a hit, he is well loved by all who visit my room... and mr pak is becoming paklumlump according to shining cuz he lies down on the floor like chilumlump... (he hurt his tail bone so had to lie down on the floor most of the time) but well according to bryan, pak can be paklumpak too since lumpak sounds like lampard... but oh well, it doesn't make sense... we were having a jolly time before bryan retreated to his nest after finishing a tiny bit of wine... haha...

anyway, chilumlump demanded to see his mommy and his other friends... he was wanted to paint himself too if lumpy, minisan gets splashed with paint... oh well, he's quite excited to go on a road trip too, so his painting fears are gone... a well travelled heffalump is a smart heffalump... but maybe not too...

okie, i it's kindda cliche to have some new year resolution... but i guess before i make any resolution, it might be good to recollect the years since millenium...

2000: euphoria
2001: zenith
2002: explore
2003: suicide
2004: purgatory
2005: transient
2006: intermittent
2007: heavenly