Treasuring Memories Of Ipoh.. Last day

Hi Guys! So, I'm back with my last day of Ipoh venture! It was hard to say goodbye to Ipoh.. I enjoyed this trip a lot and met a lot of new people from different semester. It was indeed a memorable journey.

Day 4
10th February 2015

Last day in Ipoh! everyone got up early with packed bags and all dressed up for our final venture! This time we all went for breakfast together before going to explore the Sekeping Kong Heng Hotel. We went to this really old place like a ruin of a 2 storied building, which has been converted as a eating place where a lot of food shops were open with tables and chairs like a food joint. Everyone was very excited to eat this thing called "Roti Goyang" Being an international student I had no idea what it was. So it looked like this

They put the egg on the bread and cook them together. The cooking process is not what we usually see and its a traditional food in Ipoh.
It looked really delicious and I could tell from everyone's expression that it indeed tasted awesome. but the problem is I don't take anything but hard boiled eggs. Even for poached eggs, the yolk has to be hard. So I did not have a chance to have a taste of it. But I did tasted their Roti Bakar with Poached eggs separately.

After a filled tummy we headed towards our destination, the Sekeping Kong Heng Hotel. If you guys remember I did mention about this hotel on my 2nd day story. Like the whole Kong Heng square, the hotel itself also maintained the ruined facade by only changing the interior following the adaptive reuse process. They kept the interior of the hotel very natural with unpainted face brick walls and bare floor and wire frame beds. The whole thing has a very natural feel to it.

The Facade

 The staircase

 one of the hotel rooms

 I really liked this library/reading area very comfy place

for a book lovers and I being a book worm was totally

digging this small area.

Thanks to Vevi for clicking this. 

The Pool

another of the hotel room

This is actually a hanging bed made of glass and wooden frame

must be thrilling to sleep inside

If you look closely you can see two wooden compartments with stairs

I wanted to see how it feels to be inside

And then did not know how to come down!!

We did manage to take smashing class pictures though!!

And selfies ofcourse!

After being done with Sekeping Kong Heng, We bid Ipoh Goodbye and headed towards our next destination: Kellie's Castle. I heard it was haunted from my friends there, and was really excited to see something but alas it was day time and the holy spirits were probably taking naps. 

Group Picture before entering the castle

perspective

Dearest Lecturers sunbathing

Hoping to see some Royal Spirits

So one of our dearest friend decided to play a prank on me and vevi and locked us in the dungeon. We both kept quiet for a very long time and then everyone outside got really panicked. Haha. The joke backfired and it was on them. And no even in the closed dungeon I did not come across anything interesting!

So our longest short trip to Ipoh ended here. It was a very pleasant and memorable journey. And again thanks to my department for giving me chance to explore different places every semester as a part of the curriculum. It really helps us to bond and create networking. 

Treasuring Memories of Ipoh.. Day 3

Hello everyone!
So I'm back again with my 3rd day of Ipoh venture. Today's writing is gonna be a short one. I promise I won't take much of your time.

Day 3
9th February 2015

As usual, the day was supposed to start early as we were required to take breakfast around 7.30-8.00. But me and Vevi decided to skip breakfast to get some extra sleep. So, finally after getting about 1.5 hours of extra sleep we quickly got ready for the day. Our activity for that day was nothing to do with assignments. (yayy!!) They took us to a theme park called "The Lost World of Tambun" and let us have fun among ourselves.

Group Picture while waiting for the place to open!

Yep! we went early

Upon arriving at the entrance we were "greeted" by this very charming lady! 

who was a man in disguise of course!

So this park had different categories, consisting of a water park, a pet zoo, an adventure park which included rope climbing, bungee jumping, etc.

 It was a huge place and we were given this map to follow

Sadly, I don't have much picture of that day as we spent most of our times on the water park. The water rides were too much fun and I ended up sliding for more than 10 times. However, I did managed to take some snaps while resting and watching others play. 

 This was just before Ck and Joseph fell off the tube!

It was so much fun watching them fall!

All soaked in water

Just before leaving

The theme park experience was indeed a fun one and a much needed break from all the assignments. After the whole day fun the lecturers decided to give us yet another surprise by announcing the night off meaning we can do whatever we wanted. And guess what the majority did? They slept off! haha!

I was contemplating on sleeping too! But then me and vevi decided we can't let our last night in Ipoh go to waste. So we just went out of the hotel and started roaming around only realizing we dont know where to go! Then Ck and Jimmy came to rescue! Together we went to a nearby mall and had dinner with Penang special curry mee! 

While we were walking after dinner, we bumped into some others including Ms Shar, Nano and Nana. They were on a dessert roll and we joined them. 

Later in another shop we bumped into couple others and soon the group became very big. 

If you compare both the picture, you can see someone can't stop eating!! Very delicious indeed!

this is what Nano was nibbling on..

Its a mouth watering local dessert! Slurrrp!!

The last night was full of good food and great stories with these bunch. And my view of Ipoh food changed a bit to be honest. I did love their dessert! 

So this was my last night in Ipoh. Stay tuned for the last day story!! 

Treasuring Memories of Ipoh continues..

Hi guys! As promised I'm back with my 2nd day story of Ipoh voyage. For me the 2nd day was full of dramas and a bit frustration. This is gonna be a long one I'm warning you beforehand..  

Day 2
8th February 2015

The 2nd day started very early. I was beginning to think sleeping late was a bad idea! But we had a fun night, so keeping the guilty conscious aside I started preparing for the day.
The 1st activity was breakfast and I might as well tell you finding a proper halal shop in Ipoh was a pretty tough job. At least for my appetite. According to my Chinese friends they were in food heaven! (jealous!!!) The Malay Shops were also not that good there. So my only safe choices were KFC and Pizza Hut which were just around the corner of the hotel. But then again who eats oily stuffs for breakfast! Guess where we ended up then? Mamak of course. We ordered Roti Bakar Butter and Telluar, in plain words just a normal English breakfast: Bread, Butter and Egg.

So our actual 1st activity of the day was to walk about and experience the morning flea market. For those who don't know, a flea market is a place where people sell used old stuffs, some of which are still usable and some just artifacts. You can call it a garage sale but in a larger sense. I found the place quite interesting seeing the ancient things for auction in such a reasonable price. 

Here are some of the really cool stuffs from the flea market

This really nice gentleman let me take pics and also shared 

his story which helped me to know more about Ipoh.

 Vintage cars

and Massive Locks!!

 Miniature Sabah House

 Huge Irons!

My Breakfast and Flea market Gang! ^_^

            

After exploring the morning flea market, it was time for us to head back to the hotel and prepare for our next stop which was the long awaited Old Town. At about 10 we boarded on the bus and started for our next adventure.

My Usual Bus Buddies!

After reaching Old Town, the lecturers told us to explore the place and dig out history on our own according to our groups. We did not know where to go or where to start from, and literally felt like orphans!! 

So, my group was basically supposed to gather information about the historical places of Ipoh, in order to help us with the upcoming minor projects like video making and pamphlets. For the first few minutes we were totally blank and was just standing there discussing what to do, when finally Nano found the map of Ipoh Old Town on the wall and together we came up with the plan to go around the historical places starting from the nearest. 

We were just opposite to St. Micheal's Inst and decided to start from there.  

The welcoming St. Micheal's

So we crossed this beautiful huge field in the scorching sun and reached there only to find out that it was closed! And the guard won't open the gate nor would he answer any of our questions. I think we woke him up from a peaceful nap because he was acting all grumpy. 

Actually it was a Sunday morning, and gradually we realized that all the places were closed because its weekend! A very bad day to explore historical places! Eventually we knew that we can't really get much just by going to every single place. But still we managed to go to some which were nearby and for others we relied on people. We interviewed quite a few number of people and I think that was the best way to know the actual Ipoh. Some had seen history happening with their own eyes and for the others they know the story from their parents and grandparents. It was really nice to hear about all the history and the emerging of the places from the Ipoh people. 

Here are some of the places we managed to visit. And I must add that, although the British have left Ipoh way back, they still left their sign through architecture and the moment we step foot on the old town, it was like we have been transported to a different era! 

Ipoh Railway Station

 Dewan Bandaran

Birch Memorial Clock Tower

This particular day was excessive hot and our whole digging history venture was on foot. At one point of time all 5 of us in the group literally sat on the pavement because we couldn't take it anymore. Also there were no refreshment stores nearby. But finally after all the walking we found snacks and shelter inside the railway station. 

After taking 5-10 mins break inside the station, we again started walking and started to find the other groups. We all were hungry as well and looking for a proper place for lunch. Finally we came to a stop to this really interesting looking building. 

I found it so nice that I decided to choose it for my relief model facade for visual communication. Upon going closer to the building we realized that its actually a shop lot with cafes and restaurants inside. We wanted to check out the restaurants and trust me the interior was so nice! It was nothing we had imagined. They actually kept the old building facade and even the wall ruins and just added in the furniture and lightings in a very unusual style.We went to a restaurant called Burps And Giggles, checked their menu and decided to have lunch there!

 unusual Lighting at Burps And Giggles

The table we were sitting on was actually made of a door!!

 I remember seeing this kind of switch in my Grandmas home

Finally the food arrived and it tasted amazing!! First(and probably last) proper food of the day!

smoked lamb rashers and feta cream bagel

After a filling happy tummy we again started walking and just around the corner we found another really cool place, which later I find out was called Kong Heng square. It was a very happening place buzzing with happy people. And soon we found our other friends there too! The spacious square had a marketplace selling handicraft items and also some clothes. There were also benches for the passers by to stop and take rest and also an ancient barber shop, the owner of which shared his life story with us, Later on we found out that this square is an extended arena of the famous Sekeping Kong Heng. I am not going to write anything about the hotel today because the day after next we came to visit the hotel. 

Between all the interview sessions and digging history we had our share of fun too fcourse!

Nano doing what she does best!! 

wall art mural Marilyn Monroe

Finally after a very exhausting day our historical foot trail journey came to an end and it was time to head back to the hotel. 

Everyone was very tired after the whole day foot trail, so that night the lecturers announced as a free night and we were supposed to go see kinta river and enjoy the night. So after having dinner at KFC we again boarded on the bus and headed towards the mighty River Kinta. It was indeed a beautiful sight, with trees adorned with different colors of lights and there shadows on the river creating a dreamy effect. They had cycling activities there, and many of my active friends enjoyed riding bikes and scooties on the bank of the river. Unfortunately of which I do not have any picture of. Me and my other lazy friends were too much tired of all the walking of the whole day and decided to sit and play Dumb Charades instead. Its a game where one group have to act out something and the other group have to guess what it is. We enjoyed a lot while playing this and ended up having many audiences who were laughing at our "acting skills."

The night ended in a good note, But no day ends without a group selfie. As I already mentioned earlier we are known for our selfie love! So here it is!! 

Visual Communication Presentation Layout 3

In this assignment, we were asked to select one particular project in the internet (that have plans, sections, elevations, site plan, ideations, perspective views) and compose them in composition ideas that adapt to futuristic theme in A1 size.
I chose Dupli Casa house J. Mayer H. Architects 


This is the final outcome of my composition

Old vs New

In this review of old vs. new, I’m taking side of new. From my point of view, new is better. From the earliest of civilization human beings have always been attracted to new things. We spend our lifetime searching for new things, better things, stronger or faster things. Be it a better idea, a better life or even a better building. That is why everyday new innovations take place. It is the oldest rule in history; new is always better.  

In terms of buildings, there has been a much debated topic on the issue of, to preserve or to demolish. As usual there is always two parties on the scenario and both parties have strong points on their part. But the real question is who gets to decide which building stays and which one does not? According to my reader, Jonathan Walters Every architectural era seems to go through trial-by-demolition before it is accepted as an important evolution of the species. In my opinion, there is no harm in demolishing. As long as we are talking about a place that is abandoned and easily targeted as a place of unsocial phenomena. What significance does a “heritage place” hold if it is no longer able to serving the purpose it was meant to and by the turn of time have become a place of spider’s territory only? And as designers why should we waste a potential space just because it held a different meaning in a different era? Now I am not saying that we should simply tear down every other old building that comes in the way in order to create something better. What I am trying to state here is, maybe some particular buildings which are no longer useful can be demolished and be turned into a better space by still keeping the ambiance of the previous one.

Demolishing is not the only solution of course. From quite a long time “adaptive reuse” has been the talk of time. By renovating a place we can keep the heritage alive and also turn an abandoned place into a useful one. In the article I chose, the writer Jonathan Walters talks about a particular building ‘Prentice Women’s Hospital’ that is being considered for adaptive reuse. Meaning the usability of the space inside should be changed keeping the façade and structure same and turning the place into a research facility. But the study on the place shows that renovation will not really be much helpful in the case of this particular building because it does not offer adequate efficiency. But again that is just the opinion of the other party. A lot of historic buildings are actually being saved by adapting reuse where the purpose of both preserving and creating something new is being taken care of.

Although some might argue that skyscrapers are disadvantage to the landscape or new buildings are soul less and are simply taking away nature from us. In my point of view it does not have to be like that. We have the proper knowledge and technology to dominate nature in our creation. As a designer, we should have the proper skill to design sustainable buildings. And there are quite a lot of examples of ‘Green Buildings.’ Hotel Park Royal in Singapore is one of the significant examples of sustainable architecture. The design of the hotel shows that even as our cities grow taller and denser, we can retain our green spaces by adapting sustainability practices to high-rise developments. From lush greenery in every 1 meter.sq area to energy saving, adequate use of solar power, water conversation; this hotel has managed to satisfy every category of green building. So, as I said earlier skyscrapers do not necessarily take away nature. It is our responsibility to create something that can be blend with nature. If we put all our energy to preserve the old buildings only, what is the use of us as designers?

History was once the present. If people back then did not have the courage to build something new, it would not become history one day. Old has to make space for new. It is the circle of life. So, we should always be willing to explore the unseen and create new things. But at the same time take lessons from the old and make the world a better place.       

Visual Communication Presentation Layout 2

In this assignment we 're required to choose an existing presentation board and find out the pros and cons and change it to a better layout according to our understandings.

Existing layout

  Improved Layout

Visual Communication Presentation Layout

In this assignment we were asked to create a presentation layout using Photoshop. The idea was to select any layout from the web and choose a building of our own choice and create a similar board adding in details such as 2D Drawings, 3D Drawings, Idea development and Site Analysis.

For the building, I chose Fransworth House by Mies ven der Rohe.    

This is the existing layout. My example 

                                          And this one is the one I created using Photoshop

Thank you for bearing with me. Will be back soon with further of my assignment progress. 

Thoughts on The Imitation Game

On the 11^th of February, we went to watch this movie called ‘The Imitation Game’, as a part of our Theory assignment. Let me start by saying that no I am not here to write a review on the movie, you can google it if you may. I am here to actually express my own perspective on the movie.

So the only thing I knew about the movie before going to watch it was that the lead role is played by Benedict Cumberbatch! That was enough reason for me to look forward to this movie.

As the movie started I committed to Cumberbatch’s very first words:

“What I will need from you now is a commitment. You will listen closely, and you will not judge me until I am finished. If you cannot commit to this, then please leave the room. But if you choose to stay, remember you chose to be here. What happens from this moment forward is not my responsibility. It's yours. Pay attention.”

Anyways keeping my fangirling aside, let’s move on. From the beginning to the very end of the movie my eyes were glued to the screen. It was that much good. The plot, the screenplay, the cast everything was just right for the ambience. The plot was basically during the World War 2 with a bit flashback of the lead Alan Turing’s childhood. And it is to my ignorance that I did not know until the movie finished, that it was actually based on a true story. The storyline was as you all know mainly on how Alan’s machine was able to defeat Enigma, a creation of Nazis and stop the world war by a margin of 2 years. As much as I found the journey interesting, there were also some other issues in the story which caught my attention.

The fact that women that time were not really considered to be working side by side with men was obviously one of them. And even if some did, they were to always behave politely and make sure people like them. They did not have the pleasure to always speak their mind or do what they want. Also a single woman working alone alongside men was a great issue for the parents and society too. For me it was something to ponder about. Even though we have come a long way in terms of equal rights, we women still face discrimination in corporate life.

Another main issue of the movie was Alan’s homosexuality. Homosexuality during that time was considered as a sin and people were highly punished for it. Poor Alan’s decease was due to this as well. I am not going to go into deep discussion about homosexuality. Maybe he was born with it, maybe he chose it. Who am I to judge?  I cannot help but think that if Alan Turing was born on a different era, maybe this world could see more of his brilliance.

Last but definitely not the least, the story succeeded to show how bullying can make a person’s life upside down. In my opinion, Alan might not have turned into the socially awkward person that the movie portrayed, if it was not because of the constant bullying he had to endure during his childhood. Being different is not a sin, and another person’s weakness does not give us the right to mock his life and make his living more miserable.

So, these were some of my insights on the movie. But overall I enjoyed the movie thoroughly. It was full of emotion, drama, thriller, a bit of comedy through witty dialogues and left me with some thoughts to ponder about.