Yat's Shoe Box

Random Blue Plaque

2011-05-30T23:36:00.002+01:00

I love the blue plaques in London, as they tell you that you have randomly walked into something historically noteworthy...

Last week I was standing in front of the New Zealand House in Haymarket waiting for a friend, and came across this plaque on the wall. Apparently Ho Chi Minh worked at the Carlton Hotel, which once stood on the site. Who would've known!

Breakfast in Shoreditch

2011-05-30T23:19:00.002+01:00

A couple of weeks ago I had breakfast at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Shoreditch High Street.

Architecturally, the hotel offers nothing to write home about. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by the nice view across the City from the top floor cafe. Having breakfast in front of the ever-growing London skyline, with the London overground trains running below like toy trains, is kind of nice! :)

Spitalfields City Farm

2010-03-28T23:24:00.004+01:00

A 5-minute stroll from my flat brought me to the Spitalfields City Farm, where lots of animals roam around in the middle of the city, minding their own business and looking incredibly cute :)

I have been living in the neighbourhood for almost 4 years but then like most of us, I tend to just travel from Point A to Point B, so it was a pleasant surprise to discover new places just by strolling around aimlessly ... must do that more often!

Sign of the Day

2010-03-09T13:42:00.001Z

Sprinting Toilet Man :)

Invasion of the Neon Letters

2010-02-11T12:45:00.003Z

My flat + Neon Signs = A living room which looks like the red-light district & a fluorescent green kitchen ...!

Yat's Archive: Auschwitz Cat

2010-01-16T19:01:00.006Z

A sleepy cat outside the barb wire fencing of Auschwitz, the notorious Nazi concentration camp in Poland. Photo taken June 2009.

Back to London

2010-01-16T18:46:00.002Z

So my three-week holiday in Hong Kong is over. I am now back in London.

I know it's been said about a billion times before, but the weather here is quite depressingly awful. Let's look on the bright side, and think of something positive about the city ... Good food? Not really. Beautiful people? Non. Great shopping? Not exactly. Ah but my life and my friends are here so at least there is a reason for me to stay here for a little while longer :)

Hong Kong Starbucks

2010-01-09T04:07:00.005Z

Apparently Starbucks have been trying to incorporate local features into some of their outlets, and this is one of their 'local' coffee shops in Duddell Street, Central, Hong Kong. The interior looks like a typical Hong Kong eatery / tea house in the 70s, which is kind of fun, but I wish they would serve some local drinks there too!

Happy 2010

2009-12-31T19:40:00.004Z

Happy 2010 my dear friends!
Oh my new chairs have finally arrived, and now my new apartment is (almost) fully functional! Do stop by for dinner :)
Yat xxx

What I have been working on for the last 3 years

2009-07-26T21:01:00.004+01:00

- View from Canterbury's City Wall

- View from Street Level

- View down the atrium

- View up the atrium

- View down a typical floor

The project I have been working on for the last three years is now almost complete. It is a university library in Canterbury, and it will be open to the students by the new academic year in September.

I still remember the days when I was moving the toilets around the drawings for months and months to determine the best positions, and the long hours I spent to produce the construction drawings. However, looking at the actual building nothing really matters anymore and it is just extremely satisfying to see it (almost) complete. Yay!

Is there something wrong with my little finger?

2009-03-16T14:04:00.004Z

We had a volleyball match yesterday, and we lost a really tight match of 2-3, losing the 5th set at 24-26 (URGH). Anyway, half way during the match my little finger got smashed by the volleyball when I was blocking, and it started to curl up at an angle...

This is not looking very aesthetically pleasing so if it doesn't straighten up in a couple of days I might need to do something about it. Hmm..

Apple or Apple?

2009-03-15T10:56:00.004Z

My computer is slowly dying. I have been having this wonderful iMac for the last 3.5 years, which has outlived all the computers I have ever had. Oh yes, I normally buy a new computer every year.

Anyway, my iMac is now having problems processing too much information (e.g. web browsing + listening to music + anything else), and it tends to just shuts down without warning.

So, which Mac am I going to get next? The new iMac or the new Macbook Pro? I have been staring at the Apple website everyday they should ban me from that site!

Public Toilet with a View

2009-02-15T11:37:00.004Z

This public toilet in Hong Kong has possibly the best view in the world. Maybe they should build a shopping centre here instead. Oh actually there is one directly above...

Mr Snowman

2009-02-02T15:21:00.003Z

Mr Snowman and his friends, Fat Owl and Mini Tomato Santa paid a visit to my office, and they looked very excited about the snowy weather!

London in the Snow

2009-02-02T08:01:00.003Z

Much of England is covered in snow today. Hmm.... how do I get to work?

Before

After

Year of the Ox

2009-01-25T22:55:00.003Z

Happy Year of the Ox my dear friends. Wish you 心想事成，大吉大利！

Some Really Random Pics from Hong Kong

2009-01-02T17:22:00.010Z

Some really random snaps from Hong Kong:

Traditional streetscape

Retaining Wall

Public Housing - Latest version

Public Housing - from the 70s

Public Housing - from the 70s

Happy 2009!

2009-01-01T05:31:00.001Z

Happy New Year my dear friends. Wish you all a healthy and prosperous 2009!

What happened to November?

2008-12-06T10:45:00.001Z

Yale School of Architecture - New Wing

2008-10-26T19:25:00.011Z

The Yale School of Architecture Building in New Haven, Connecticut, is one of the best known icons of modern architecture in the United States, designed by Paul Rudolph in a style called "Brutalism". I know Brutalism probably does not have the best of publicities thanks to all the mediocre exposed chipped concrete car parks and housing estates, but when designed properly it is actually incredibly simple, powerful and also pleasant at the same time. For one I enjoyed my time spent in the building very much.

Yale School of Architecture - Paul Rudolph 1963

Anyway, when I studied architecture at Yale there was a piece of empty land next to the school, and we heard that the new Yale History of Art Building will evantually occupy that spot.

Now after some 6 years the new building designed by New York based architect Gwathmey Siegel is almost complete, and I have to say I am left slightly disappointed.

Yale History of Art Building - Gwathmey Siegel

Yale History of Art Building - On site 2008

In simple language I would say it looks mediocre. But in architecture we were taught not to use such simple and plain terms. So, in more elaborated architectural language I would say that it has diluted the powerful vertical and horizontal volumes and textures created by the Yale School of Architecture by adding a number of seemingly random, bitty shapes to the composition. Oh, and howcome the cladding materials look so random? One should perhaps either compliment the fair-faced concrete or contrast it, rather than cladding the new building in a mishmash of material.

The worst thing is that this new building sits next to the architecture school, where people spend years to talk and learn about beauty, proportion, material, details, forms and spaces. And I am sorry to say that the new building is looking a bit cheap.

Oh I actually design the new History of Art Building on the same site as a studio project. More explanations are available upon request but the keywords are Concrete vs Scaffolding, Permanent vs Temporary, Heavy vs Light, Brutal vs Smooth.

Yale History of Art Building - Axonometric 2003
Yale History of Art Building - Perspective 2003

Another Animal News Clip from Hong Kong

2008-10-18T11:32:00.003+01:00

A stroll buffalo was found fallen down a ditch in Hong Kong and the police came and tried to pull it back up by various methods including pulling it with ropes, pushing it from behind with no success. After about 2 hours of trying, the buffalo walked downstream slightly and climbed up some steps itself, and wandered away. How elegant.

Belgium / France Day Trip

2008-10-08T08:19:00.002+01:00

1, Lunch: Starter - Grilled Ox Bone Marrow. Yum Yum Yum.

2, Lunch: Main Course - Mussels and Fries. Yum Yum Yum.

3, Rem Koolhaas tower at Lille Eurostar station.

Trip Highlight:
- Visited factory where the precast concrete panels for my project is being manufactured, and they look great!

Trip Lowlight:
- Alarm clock went off at 4:30am. Yikes!

Tower Bridge

2008-09-28T11:54:00.003+01:00

My office moved from Soho to London Bridge a couple of months ago. Since then my daily walk to work has become more scenic, including crossing the river over Tower Bridge. Everyday I walk across it I wondered when it is going to flip open to let boat / ships through but that never happened, so I started to think that there is really no need for it to open anymore.

Until today! It opened in the morning on my way to work, and it opened again on my way back from work! It is sort of a nice break to stare at something, but then if you are in a hurry you'd probably get quite frustrated to be stuck there for 10mins.

Cute Cat

2008-09-21T20:56:00.006+01:00

This cat in Hong Kong was very naugthy. It climbed out of the balcony on the 8th floor of an apartment building, and eventually got stuck on a ledge which was only a couple of inches wide. It then grabbed the metal bars and started meowing for help.

Luckily it was spotted by a passer-by, who called the firemen, who rescued it off the ladder on a fire engine. The whole saga lasted for three hours. Poor cat.

So cute.

Work - Site Progress

2008-09-20T10:37:00.002+01:00

Meanwhile, my work project in Canterbury in progressing:

1, View down from first floor. The central atrium (the long bit in the middle) is now taking shape, three more storeys to go

2, Circular columns (wrapped in protection) and props to support the concrete above before it acquires strength over time. I have hit my head so many times on the scaffolding already, so lucky that we have to wear hard hat...

3, Steel bridge connecting the two wings on either side of the atrium.

4, Bad concrete - Eeek! Luckily this part of the building will have a ceiling to it, whereas the rest will be totally exposed, so bad concrete = bad finishing.

Olympic Torch

2008-09-20T10:30:00.004+01:00

In Beijing, we went to this park where people can queue up, put white gloves on, and the hold the Olympic torch and take a photo with it. The queue was always so long that we just decided to give it a miss.

But look, I did just that in Hong Kong, without the queue, without the gloves (and without the real torch, ahha)

Hong Kong Snapshots

2008-08-30T08:17:00.007+01:00

1, Brand new London Heathrow Terminal 5. Considering that there are so many amazing new airports around the world, this one actually looks rather conservative and plain. It is however a HUGE improvement when compared to the other prehistoric terminals in London.

2, Terminal 5 Directory - Already falling apart ...

3, Banana trees outside of my parents' apartment. For some reason tourists are often surprised to see that real banana trees actually do exist in some part of the world.

4, A visit to the Chinese doctor. With a quick feel of the pulse and a glance at your tongue, the Chinese doctor can tell you what's wrong with your body. In my case, the doctor said that my digestive system is really bad. Apparently I am not absorbing the food I eat (Note: If I absort all the food I eat I should be as heavy as a elephant now. Lucky!)

5, A stroll around the Peak.

6, McDull the pig on the Peak.

7, Back to sea level. A walk along the promenade.

8, A visit to the temple.

9, A quick snack from the local Ikea.

10, A ferry journey to some outlying islands. The container vessel might be carrying your Christmas shopping manufactured in China!

11, A stroll around an outlying island.

12, A ride on a roller coaster in Ocean Park.

13, A quick hello to panda An An, whilst he munches on bamboo.

Yat in Hospital

2008-07-02T10:24:00.006+01:00

My food

I noticed a giant needle and tap on my hand after the surgery ...

Waking up right after the surgery, looking a bit confused

Obligatory body picture in front of the mirror.

Friday 20/06/2008
Woke up having nausea and stomach pain. Slept all day, vomited all day.
Food - One slice of white bread

Saturday 21/06/2008
9:00am
Nausea subsided but stomach pain became more acute towards lower right abdomen. Not a good sign!
10:00am
Called NHS Direct for health advice. The advice was that I should go see a doctor. Not good!
12:00am
Went to Walk-In Clinic. Waiting time 2.5 hours. Not good!
3:00pm
Saw a nurse, who was worried, and she called for a doctor, who was worried, and he gave me a letter saying that I need to go to A&E next door. On the envelope he wrote in bold capitals "SURGICAL". Not good!
4:00pm - 7:00pm
Lots and lots of waiting. Lots of weirdos in A&E, old people, bleeding people, drunk people, angry people, bored people ...
7:00pm
Saw various doctors and nurses, got some blood sample taken but the nurse left a tap on my arm and put me on a drip. Not a good sign!
8:00pm
I was told by the doctor that I had appendicitis and will have to stay for the night. Depending various circumstances I might be operated at 2am. I reiterated that I wanted a keyhole surgery instead of an open surgery. I had to keep saying that it is important for me to get minimal scaring because I will need to expose my body for professional and private reasons...... Before surgery I was not allowed to eat or drink anything. I was put on various types of drips, yum ...
9:00pm - 12:00am
I was sent to wait in a general 8-person ward. Bored, hungry, tired. The male nurse reheated some microwave curry from Tesco at 11:00pm, the whole ward smelled of curry, yum ...
Joakim brought me clean clothes and some magazines, which I will read over and over again for the next two days.
1:00am
I was transferred to a 4-person surgical ward. My neighbours looked a lot more "hospitalised", one guy was vomiting throughout the night, one guy kept moaning from pain. Not a good sign!
2:00am
I was told that my surgery will take place tomorrow instead. In the meantime I am not allowed to eat anything so I was put on more drips ....

Sunday 22/06/2008
8:00am - 6:00pm
Woke up, fell asleep, woke up, reread my magazines, fell asleep, woke up, reread my magazines, fell asleep
12:00pm
My colleague Silje visited me. I was wearing an operation gown which basically only covers my body in the front. I was glad that I had a pair of shorts on when I walked to the meeting room, not knowing that she was visiting!
7:00pm
Wheeled to the theatre, put in anaethetics, system shut down
9:00pm
Woke up, checked my body and was relieved that I got a keyhole surgery, yay! Fell asleep again.
Note: I hadn't eaten anything for 3 days!

Monday 23/06/2008
8:00am - 4:00pm
Woke up, fell asleep, woke up. Nurse said if it is too painful for me to walk to toilet she will put a tube in my penis and drain my pee to a plastic bag. I promptly sat up and walked to the toilet because I didn't want a pee bag!
8:30am
Joakim visited and was chased away by the nurse in about 5 seconds. Visiting hours apparently start at 2pm.
5:00pm
Libon visited, I was checked out of the hospital.
6:00pm
Libon and I had a huge Pakistani meal with lots of curry. Yum! (but perhaps not the best thing to eat right after surgery!)

The above experience can be summarised into the following keywords:
- Waiting
- Staring
- Sleeping
- Waiting ...

Work

2008-06-04T17:38:00.003+01:00

These are the latest computer generated internal views of the project I am working on in Canterbury. This is what the inside will look like when it is finished.

This is what it looks like now....

Another Evening, Another Meal

2008-05-18T22:09:00.005+01:00

Home-cooked dinner for one (i.e. Yat):

- Sirloin Steak

- Tiger Prawns with Eggs

- Stir-fry Broccoli with Shitake Mushroom

- Rice x 2

Complementary Chineseness:

- Newspaper on the table

- Eating with the television on

p.s. I eat too much

Around the World in 5 Minutes

2008-05-14T07:10:00.004+01:00

Yat in Hong Kong

Yat in Tokyo

Yat in Stockholm

Yat in London :)

Work / Play

2008-04-24T12:19:00.006+01:00

Existing Building: June 2007

Demolition: December 2007

Construction: April 2008

WORK:

The project I am working on for the last two years is now under construction. The existing building has been demolished and now they are putting foundation piles into the ground.

PLAY:

I now go to Canterbury (site) every Tuesday, and the train journey takes about 1.5 hours each way. I have become very good at spotting bunnies in the fields on the train running at full speed. It's actually quite entertaining. They look like this:

So cute!

March 2008 in a Nutshell

2008-03-31T10:57:00.005+01:00

1, Landlord wanted us to move out of the flat
2, Searched for a place to move to
3, Flat viewings, flat viewings and flat viewings
4, Found a place to move to
5, Packing, packing and packing
6, Moved flat
7, Found hundreds of cockroaches in the new flat
8, Phone calls, phone calls and phone calls about pest infestation
9, Decided to move out, flat viewings, flat viewings and flat viewings
10, Celebrated Easter in Sweden with Patrik's family
11, Patrik got food poisoned, I became a nurse for one day
12, Came back from Sweden
13, BIRTHDAY
14, Stayed in a flat with lots of cockroaches for 4 weeks
15, Found a place to move to
16, Packing, packing and packing
17, Moved flat
18, Ikea
19, Unpacking, unpacking and unpacking
20, Still trying to get our deposit back for the cockroach flat

Hence the lack of updates! :)

Camel

2008-02-22T10:33:00.003Z

Ouch, I cut myself this morning when I was shaving that very little bit of facial hair. I was paying ZERO attention so I actually cut myself on the lip and I was bleeding a lot. This blood stain on the tissue paper looks like a camel though, soooo cute.

The Origin of Volleyball

2008-02-17T10:06:00.009Z

Volleyball was invented in 1990.

I was 13 years old, tall, skinny, wore glasses, geeky.

And then my Mum said, "Yat, why don't you join a sports club in school?" I said, "Yes Mum"

So I went to talk to the cool, sporty kids from the basketball club, athletics club, baseball club, swimming club.... and said " I would like to join your club", and they said "No thank you".

And then the guy sitting two desks in front of me in my class said, "You are so tall, you should play volleyball, come play with us", and I said "ok!"

17 years later, I am still playing volleyball competitively, and I am still loving it :)

1, My Secondary School

2, School Gym (Outside). This is where volleyball started.

3, School Gym (Inside). It amazing how little it has changed over the last 17 years.

4, Some of my juniors kicking a volleyball, and I told them off "HEY, NEVER KICK A VOLLEYBALL!"

5, Gym - Looking the same. Me - 17 years older

6, THE Vault. We did lots of evil physical training on this thing (*Sweat*)

7, Changing Room. No one ever uses it, we just strip and change as, when and where necessary

8, Old notice at the School Gym, dated 1992. They have probably forgotten about this gym, why is a 18 year-old notice still there??

Stockholm

2008-02-05T22:17:00.000Z

1, Stockholm in winter

2, Stockholm from above

3, Swedish Slut Sale:
"Rea" = Sale in Swedish, so Slut Rea = Slut Sale in Swedish

4, Swedish Chinese Restaurants
All Chinese restaurants in Stockholm are called Mongolian barbecues for some reason. I have never met a Mongolian all my life, perhaps they have all migrated to Sweden

5, Swedish Breakfast
Cheese, crisp bread, yoghurt and a complimentary Swedish man

6, Swedish Garfield
Apparently when Garfield migrated to Sweden he decided to call himself Gustaf

7, Swedish Retirement Home
Restaurant Harvard. Where is Restaurant Yale?

8, Swedish MacDonald
Meatballs are on the menu, they tasted like dried feet

Stockholm Adventure

2008-02-02T15:17:00.000Z

Day 1 (31-01-2008)
1:00pm
Arrived in Stockholm
1:30pm
Met up with my friend Patrik, told him that the city looked so peaceful and safe
2:00pm
Had my iPhone stolen as I was saying the above to Patrik

p.s. I am going to be uncontactable for a while, until the next generation of iPhone is released.

Art / Vandalism

2008-01-27T19:37:00.000Z

Yesterday afternoon I ran into these guys downstairs as they were topping up the graffiti on the side wall of my building. There were plenty of people taking pictures and judging by the fact that they were "performing" under broad day light, it was probably a form of Art.

I think it was very cool and artistic indeed. Obviously I don't own the building, otherwise I might have to consider this outright vandalism.

Building design for beginners: Avoid blank white walls on your building unless you would like some random people to decorate it with spray paint.

Work

2008-01-24T16:01:00.000Z

1, Existing Building, December 2007

2, Existing Building (or the lack of), January 2008

I am working on this project and the existing building is getting demolished. Once demolition is finished the new building will start construction in March. The site is right next door to a police station so let's hope they don't accidentally knock a bit off the police building.

Thank You and Goodbye

2008-01-23T23:58:00.000Z

Hong Kong From Above

2008-01-19T14:10:00.001Z

1, Outside of a seafood restaurant, Lei Yue Mun

2, Hong Kong Underground (Train)

3, Old Hong Kong Central Prison, now a temporary exhibition space

4, Hunghom Ferry Pier, waiting for my ferry to Central

5, Street Crossing, between Times Square and Sogo, Causeway Bay

6, Hong Kong Underground (Platform)

7, Outside of the sports hall of my old highschool, Diocesan Boys' School

New Reader

2008-01-15T18:04:00.001Z

My mum has recently started to read my blog. This is she :)

Random Observations

2008-01-03T12:50:00.000Z

1, One pier, many activities

2, The sign reads "Norway (hourly) Hotel". It's a love hotel, very scandinavian.

3, Highrise living. In London a building as tall as this podium would be considered a highrise.

4, Hong Kong's version of Wisteria Lane, minus the desperate housewives, plus a misspelling.

5, Rubbish Bins in the Hong Kong metro. Not a common sight in the London Underground.

6, This is not the Berwick Street in London Soho, where I lunch most of the time. This is the Hong Kong Berwick Street, where I had a haircut....

7, ...... here. This is a traditional barber shop. They only use scissors so if you tell them you want a No. 1 cut they won't understand what you are talking about.

2008

2007-12-31T14:07:00.001Z

A random bunny in Hong Kong says "Happy New Year / 新年快樂 / 新年おめでとう / Gott Nytt År" It depends on which language you understand.

Random Pics

2007-12-28T04:02:00.000Z

1, London - Hong Kong. I worked till 4:30pm on Saturday to finish some work before disappearing for 3 weeks, then I went straight to the airport from the office (after a fix at the Gourmet Burger Kitchen, yum) for the 8pm flight.

2, Hong Kong skyline. Construction is under way for the tallest building in Hong Kong, even taller than the one in this photo. There is a giant shopping centre under that new building, obviously.

3, Hong Kong Star Ferry. Me waiting for the next ferry to cross the harbour.

4, Cat. So fat, so cute.

5, Eat Eat Eat. Food Food Food.

6, Snake Soup. Winter specialty. So good.

Absolute Ice Bar London

2007-12-19T23:21:00.000Z

Absolute Ice Bar in London.
Thoughts:

1, We all look ridiculous in that cap thing. Is it a secret society gathering?

2, No ice on the ceiling. All 11 architects pointed out that the suspended ceiling was falling apart.

3, The ice glass/cup was cute, and we spent 30mins licking it.

4, £10 for one drink........hmm..

Camera Phone

2007-12-08T16:37:00.001Z

For the first time I now have a reasonable camera on my phone, and these are the first pictures I took:

There is this cat who lives in the little shop across the street from where I live. The weather is now getting cold and the cat has decided to sleep right at the store front during the day because the light box keeps it warm. It always messes up the display and the shopkeepers have decided to move the display away and put a sign there saying "Please don't tap on the glass. Thanks! Merci! Arigato!" So cute!

New Mobile Number

2007-12-02T12:42:00.001Z

I have a new mobile phone and a new mobile number 07515-660-016.
My old one 07766-492-809 will be disconnected soon, so please update your address book, thanks!

Hong Kong Metro

2007-12-02T12:22:00.000Z

The two train / underground companies in Hong Kong officially merged today. The new MTR (Mass Transit Railway) route map doubled in size overnight so now it is looking a bit more presentable as a metro system for city of 7million people, yay!

Howl's Moving Castle

2007-11-19T11:33:00.000Z

Yesterday night I watched this Japanese anime Howl's Moving Castle by Studio Ghibli with a mysterious person from "somewhere along the Atlantic coast" (in Rick's language). It was really good and and I thought the story line was somewhat stronger than some of the recent ones like Spirited Away, because there are fewer characters so there were more time to develop them.

Memorable Quote: "There is no reason to live if I cannot be beautiful" - Howl (the main character), how very camp :)

Random

2007-11-17T16:51:00.001Z

It is amazing how much you can hide with soft lenses:

1, What I look like without any photo manipulation

2, Soft lens does magic. I am even glowing slightly.

Porn for Architects

2007-11-15T14:06:00.000Z

Here are some of the skyscrapers in London currently under construction:

1, 122 Leadenhall Street, architect Richard Rogers, 225m. yum.....

2, 110 Bishopsgate, architect KPF, 246m. ooohh......

3, 22-24 Bishopsgate, architect KPF, 288m. aahhhhh......

4, 32 London Bridge Street, architect Renzo Piano, 310m. yeah.... you like that?

Context: Exhaust Pipe

2007-11-12T11:05:00.000Z

When I started architecture school one of the first things they taught us was to look at the site context before starting a design: go take a look at the site, take some pictures and take a note of any existing features.

I guess it is the same for any design in general. This is what happens when one just designs something on the computer without looking at the "context"...

LIVE2007: Me, Me, Me

2007-11-09T17:16:00.000Z

Here are some of the photos of me in volleyball action during LIVE2007 a couple of weeks ago. We were the only team without a uniform, so we looked a bit random on court. Oh well, we won the tournament in the end anyway =)

1, Me serving, my left thigh was looking a bit serious

2, Me hitting, exposing my stomach, but so were Sydney and Claus (blocking)

3, Me hitting again, more stomach

4, Me hitting again, lots of stomach

5, Excessive jumping means over-exposure of my body. Now I've seen these pictures I've got to tuck in my t-shirt next time!

Old Photos

2007-11-07T11:46:00.001Z

There are various things you can find on Facebook, and that includes:
1, People you haven't seen / talked to for years and years and years.
2, Really old photos on their profiles, with you in them.

I guess I am easy enough to spot?
Yes I am the obese one in the back row.

Diocesan Boys' School Class 4B Photo: 1993

Diocesan Boys' School Class 5B Photo: 1994

Diocesan Boys' School Graduation Dinner: 1994

London International Volleyball Extravaganza 2007

2007-10-29T14:38:00.000Z

The London International Volleyball Extravaganza (LIVE) tournament happened last weekend, more than 100 people participated from various countries including France, Germany, Italy, Norway and there was also a Brazilian team, called China....

Anyway some of the highlights include:

- I played quite well despite feeling feverish, my reception was back in order, thank you very much

- Our team won the tournament. For the first time I have a proper gold medal from one of these tournaments. Last time when we won the tournament in Berlin we were given a bust of a Barbie doll......and it goes very well with Daniel's home decor so he is keeping it

- One guy in our team almost missed the beginning of our first match, because when he woke up in the morning he saw a not so familiar ceiling, so he had to take a taxi home but couldn't find one... how odd..

- It was fun to see various people showing up together for brunch on Sunday, after the post-tournament party on Saturday.... hmm... how odd..

Yat the Dumpster

2007-10-20T17:28:00.000+01:00

Yat is a dumpster.

His name is written on dumpsters all over London. Next time say hi to Yat when you throw your trash out, and Yat will say hi back.

Do not, however, ask Yat why there is the mirrored text of "ROL" in front of his name, he's been wondering about that all his life!

New Haircut

2007-10-14T10:02:00.000+01:00

With the new found luxury of not going to work on weekends, yesterday I:
11:00am Woke up
01:00pm Stocked up at supermarket
04:00pm Spent £5 on a haircut from the Pakistani barber
07:00pm Cooked dinner
09:00pm Watched Desperate Housewives season 3 2nd episode, fun fun fun

Yat is back from outer space

2007-10-10T14:30:00.000+01:00

I have been very busy with work the last two months but workload is easing (a little bit), so I finally have time to plough this barren piece of cyber blog land.

Updates coming soon.

Quote of the Week

2007-08-31T23:16:00.000+01:00

"Having sex with him was like having a very heavy wardrobe fall on top of you with a very small key."

Toilets Toilets Toilets

2007-08-21T18:36:00.001+01:00

Since Rick commented on my previous post about toilets, here I am exclusively revealing the main toilet blocks in the building I am designing.

According to the Building Regulations, for a 500-person auditorium we will only need to provide 4 urinals and 4 toilet cubicles for the male toilet, but we need to provide 16 toilet cubicles for the female toilet... how interesting.

Work Work Work

2007-08-20T14:20:00.001+01:00

Busy Busy Busy

Old Picture

2007-08-14T22:47:00.000+01:00

Me in Pyeongsan, South Korea 2006, completely frozen. Beautiful scenery though.

Sunday Walkabout

2007-08-12T21:17:00.000+01:00

This Sunday I had a walk around some parts of Hackney, not too far away from where I live, with Edward.

We had traditional Sunday Roast from The Royal Oak pub on Columbia Road (very yummy), walked around the flower market a little, then we walked to Broadway Market and we visited this great traditional eel shop F. Cooke. It served all kinds of traditional East London eel dishes like jellied eel, warm eel in some green stuff, eel and mash pie, and just eel. The decoration of the shop hasn't changed for who knows how long and the atmosphere is wonderful inside. It is a bit sad that these traditional eateries are dying, so I think I will go there more often.

Anyway, we then walked to this park called Hackney Downs, where we saw two fat and dirty street bums having sex in broad daylight.... (*vomit*)

We finished by walking back to Edward's place, where we played with his friend's cat Mac for a little bit.

1, Eel Shop - Entrance

2, Eel Shop - great interior

3, Eel Shop - salt, pepper and vinegar, eels' best friends

4, Warm eel in some green sauce - you say yuck, I say yum

5, Mac the Cat - looks mean, acts mean, though not lean

Saturday - Brighton

2007-08-04T23:47:00.000+01:00

Facts:
1, Brighton Pride
2, I did not sleep well last night because of certain activities next room at 4am
3, It was very sunny and now I have this tank top tan line
4, I had lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen
5, I did not see the parade, and I did not go to the party
6, I did go to a shopping mall, tried some clothes at Zara, read some magazine at Borders, browsed for games at Virgin Megastore
7, I took the train back at 4pm
8, I had a good day

The King is Dead

2007-07-28T21:50:00.000+01:00

Hong Kong's original graffiti artist, the "King of Kowloon" is dead. He had graced Kowloon (part of Hong Kong) with lots of graffiti and we are going to miss him.

He started writing all over Kowloon in the 60s when he allegedly found documents claiming that his ancestors have the right to most of Kowloon's land. His graffiti appear on walls, post boxes and electrical boxes all over town, claiming that he is the rightful heir to Kowloon, showing his family tree, and personally insulting the Queen.

He was unemployed, and had been arrested so many times that the police basically gave up. After his death, the government announced that they will stop washing away his "work". For once they have made the right decision.

What sport is this?

2007-07-22T01:01:00.001+01:00

I was in Brussels last weekend and there were people playing this 'sport' in the middle of the main city square. It is like a bit of cricket / tennis with a little orange ball (which flew into the watching crowd all the time). What sport is this?

Snaps from Hong Kong

2007-07-18T21:17:00.000+01:00

OK I am finally getting my act together and here's a new post.

1, Waiting for the ferry

2, Some guy fishing in the harbour

3, I am a Hong Kong fan

4, No trip to Hong Kong is complete without Turtle Jelly

5, A cute dog sitting on the cashier at the seafood market.

Japanese Human Tetris

2007-06-27T04:20:00.001+01:00

Fun Fun Fun!

Hong Kong: Highrise Apartments

2007-06-25T16:39:00.000+01:00

Sunday, Mahjong Day

2007-06-24T15:53:00.000+01:00

Today I played mahjong with my parents and some of my relatives for the first time. I've only had "elementary training" in London, and facing these well seasoned mahjong experts I was totally blown out of the water. Well, at least I didn't lose all my chips so that's a good sign.

Postcard from Hong Kong

2007-06-22T14:29:00.000+01:00

So much food.
So much shopping.
So trying to take a picture of myself but the tall tower ended up sticking out of my head, on every single picture.

Yat in Hong Kong

2007-06-21T09:24:00.001+01:00

LDN ----> HKG

...

2007-06-16T19:30:00.000+01:00

and today I got a flat tyre.... URGH URGH URGH YIKES

Bicycle, Bicycle

2007-06-13T14:23:00.001+01:00

I bought this bike last weekend and today for the first time I cycled to work. It totally cut down travel time from 50mins (walk) / 45mins (bus) to just around 25mins.

It is slightly dangerous to cycle in Central London though, basically there were all these cyclists who never stop in front of the traffic light. Obviously I cycle so much quicker I always overtake them on the way, but I always stop at the light and then they will just overtake me by going through red lights, how dangerous.

Yat the Bandit

2007-06-07T15:17:00.000+01:00

There are times when good guys go bad....

Logo - London Olympics 2012

2007-06-04T13:58:00.001+01:00

The 2012 London Olympics emblem has been officially launched today.

According to http://main.london2012.com/en The design of the emblem is "based on the number 2012.... and includes the Olympic Rings and the word London". How very creative!

It will "define the venues we build and the Games we hold and act as a reminder of our promise to use the Olympics spirit to inspire everyone and reach out to young people around the world". Erm, could you please elaborate more?

Comments on BBC.com include:

"what a mess!"

"Oh my God! It's embarrassing!"

"Dreadful. And how much did that waste of space cost?"

Yat's Locked Out

2007-06-01T09:31:00.000+01:00

Yesterday morning I gave my visitor, Mr. P, my door key so he could catch up with some beauty sleep by not walking out with me at 8am. I had a cunning plan: just put the key in one of my unopened letters and put it in the post box, then I can collect it when I get home in the evening. Very clever.

Anyway, I went to this Thai restaurant Busaba with Daniel after work. Soon after dinner, Daniel had a stomach pain and he had to take a taxi home for an emergency explosive relief.

On my bus journey home my stomach started to feel funny, and when I went into the building to look for my "post", it wasn't there... it was diligently picked up by my flatmate.

As time went by my options were more and more limited. I could either:

1, Wait till Joakim (flatmate 1) gets out of his 3-hour movie date

2, Wait till Kevin (flatmate 2) finishes with his ??-hour extra-curricular activities (it involved 2 men, and a comfortable horizontal surface, or not)

3, Go to a local health club just down the road, I think it's name is Chariot, I'm not entirely sure

In the end I went for Option 1. End of story.

And oh the toilets in the movie theatre cafe, Rich Mix, are quite nice and clean, but apparently Joakim didn't enjoy the movie.

Movie Night

2007-05-31T13:40:00.000+01:00

Yesterday I had a date with Edward. We first went to basement Korean for a quick bite and then we watched this German movie The Lives of Others. It was a great movie about this East German secret police spying on someone but eventually got touched and helped the people he was supposed to spy on. I really enjoyed it.

Anyway, if you wonder what Edward looks like unfortunately I don't have a picture of him. I did a google image search of his name and the picture below came up. Yeah that looks about right.

EU Flag Proposal

2007-05-26T09:21:00.001+01:00

This "Barcode" flag was proposed by architect Rem Koolhaas to unite the flags of the EU member countries into a single, colourful symbol. In the current European flag, there is a fixed number of stars. In the barcode however, new Member States of the EU can be added without space constraints.

Looks kind of cool.

Some English Words with Foreign Origin

2007-05-24T14:51:00.000+01:00

Chinese:

Chop Chop - from Cantonese "gup", lit. hurry, urgent
(note: it is currently being overused by some Swedish individual)

Ketchup - lit. tomato sauce / juice

Lychee - from Cantonese 荔枝, name of the fruit

Wok - from Cantonese 鑊, name of the cooking instrument

Swedish:

Kink - a tight curl, twist, or bend
(note: it also means peculiarity or deviation in sexual behaviour or taste, yum)

Pick-Up Line of the Week

2007-05-21T15:58:00.000+01:00

"Are you waiting for someone?" Friday 20 May 2007 - Successful

2008 Beijing Olympics Medal

2007-05-14T15:44:00.000+01:00

These are the medals for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The design is inspired by the ancient Chinese ornament "bi"(玉璧), which is a flat jade disc with a circular hole in the centre.

The design is simple and clean, and yet with an unescapable blend of Chinese motif. I like it. Now I should go to Beijing and see if they sell those in the markets.

Paris

2007-05-12T11:19:00.000+01:00

I went to Paris last weekend, and in Paris, we saw:

1, A cute big tomato on the floor of the metro (underground)

2, A "Vertical Garden" green wall in front of the new BHV Hommes store

3, The "Rose Line" in Saint-Sulpice as described in Da Vinci Code, you've got to do what tourists do.

4&5, And we discovered that Eurostar tickets from Paris to London have a "Nasty Price". Cute

Eurovision 2007

2007-05-09T17:51:00.000+01:00

This year's Eurovision Song Contest will take place on 10th May (Semi-Final) and 12th May (Final).

The British entry is Scooch (whoever they are) singing "Flying the Flag", and the part of the lyrics read:

"Ba-ba-da, Ba-ba-da,

Ba-da-da-ba, ba-da

Duty free madam?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah."

Sounds like fun....

Fire on Oxford Street

2007-04-27T13:56:00.000+01:00

Fire broke out in one of the buildings on Oxford Street yesterday at around 7pm, pretty close to where I work.

The police blocked off a section of Oxford Street and so it was quite a bit of a mess to catch the bus, so we took the tube to go home in the end, after watching Blades of Glory (silly move with Will Ferrell, quite funny).

http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157147238966?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController

Motto of the Day

2007-04-24T21:44:00.000+01:00

"Sex without love is just exercise"

My Trip to Gothenburg - Food

2007-04-22T11:30:00.000+01:00

Some of the food I had in Sweden:

1, Sausage and mesh (street food in Gothenburg)

2, Swedish meat ball (from a restaurant / bar somewhere)

3, Nacho buffet (I know... I shall erase this part of my memory immediately)

4, Easter dinner at Joakim's family residence (cold dish - yum yum yum)

5, Easter dinner at Joakim's family residence (hot dish - yum yum yum)

Conculsion - Real Swedish meatballs taste much better than the ones from Ikea

Souvenir from Sweden

2007-04-10T09:51:00.000+01:00

I visited Joakim's family in Sweden over Easter. We spent two days in Gothenburg, and two days in Joakim's home city of Jonkoping and also this beautiful island Visingso, where Joakim's family now live.

Anyway, with my bottomless appetite I was quickly promoted from Swedish food beginner to advanced level connoisseur, and I was given this can of surstromming (sour herring). I was HEAVILY warned that I should never ever open the can in their house, or anywhere close to civilisation because it will stink the hell out of the whole island. So now I am very very curious...

Surstromming on wikipedia:"...when opened release a strong, foul smell. It is for this particular smell, which is similar to fish gone bad or garbage left out in the sun for a couple of days, ......and it is often held that people who try surströmming can be confident that they will never forget it. Because of the smell, the dish is often eaten outdoors."

Zone 1? Zone 2?

2007-04-02T17:42:00.000+01:00

In order to determine whether I now live in Zone 1 or Zone 2, I've found this London tube map overlaid with a London street map, and it appears that we live juuuust outside of Zone 1! This is veeeeeeeery bad for my self-esteem, ha.

But then, if even the London suburb of Elephant & Castle is in Zone 1, I guess this zoning really doesn't mean anything, ha.

London on Foot

2007-03-31T20:31:00.000+01:00

Today I had a walk around London with my friend Ka Sing, who's visiting from Hong Kong.

We started off by walking down Brick Lane, checking out all the cool shops and second hand clothing stores. We also saw a really cute cat sitting behind a window doing nothing.

Then we continued south and walked to St Katherine's Dock. There are many very posh yachts with really cheesy names such as "London Dream" or "Play Buoy" hmm... Anyway, there were some cherry blossoms around the dock and they were beautiful.

It was then lunch hour and we went to my favourite supermarket Waitrose for a roast chicken. It was a bit windy to sit outside but the sun made up for it.

After the chicken we continued our tour around Wapping, checking out the canals and pretty neighbourhoods.

It all proved a bit too much so after Wapping we went back to the flat for a 30-min recharge, then we went off to the Barbican Gallery for the Alvar Aalto exhibition. It was my first time to be inside the Barbican and I have to say it looks totally like a development of that era: brutalist, Corbusian, utopian, and a bit empty. Anyway, the show was interesting enough to keep me awake (for most of the time) and we also checked out the cool toilet next to the auditorium.

Long day, so tired.

1, Cute Cat
2, Cherry Blossom at St Katherine's Dock
3, Roast Chicken at Waitrose
4, Wapping
5, Toilet in Barbican Centre

Orange

2007-03-29T07:36:00.000+01:00

I peeled an orange perfectly in one go today. Sooo impressed!

Birthday Special - Who was born on 27 March?

2007-03-27T08:04:00.000+01:00

1809 - Baron Haussmann
Famous French civic planner who transformed Paris into what it looks like today, by cutting straight avenues connecting monuments

1886 - Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Famous German modernist architect, "Less is More"

1963 - Quentin Tarantino
American director

1970 - Mariah Carey
Oh....hmm... You've got me feeling emotions~!

1975 - Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson
American singer

1977 - Yat Lun Ng
That would be me!

The Move is Over

2007-03-26T22:22:00.000+01:00

The move is officially over. It involved:

1, moving lots of boxes
2, going to lots of Ikeas (and eating swedish meatballs in their restaurants)

Now my room is finally ready, although the living room is not. Internet is up and running and it looks like I will be cooking the first dinner in a couple of days. All looking very promising.

A&F London

2007-03-23T14:14:00.000Z

A&F London opened its doors yesterday. I went today over lunch to check it out.

Warning:

1, Every gay man in London will be wearing them.

2, Everything cost twice as much as they do in the US.

3, Loud, repeating soundtrack and dim lights makes you go crazy.

Anyway, I still queued for 20mins to pay for a shirt and a t-shirt. How odd.

We are moving!

2007-03-15T15:41:00.000Z

We will be moving this Saturday, this is the schedule:

10:00 - Pick up moving van from Edgware Road (Yat)

10:00 - Get keys from estate agent (Joakim / Kevin)

11:00 - Arrive at Angel, move stuff from J & K's place to van

12:00 - Leave Angel

12:30 - Arrive at Sclater Street, move stuff from van to new flat

13:30 - Leave Sclater Street (Lunch: Bagels)

14:30 - Arrive at Marylebone, move stuff from my place to van

16:30 - Leave Marylebone

17:00 - Arrive at Sclater Street, move stuff from van to new flat

18:30 - Leave for Ikea Croydon

20:00 - Arrive at Ikea Croydon (they close at 11pm)

Sunday - more Ikea if necessary (URGH!)

Keyboard Cleaning

2007-03-10T14:16:00.000Z

I just cleaned my iMac keyboard. It was actually surprisingly easy to take the keys out, the only challenge was to not the mix up the keys. With all the dirt from the past year (food, drinks, dust, and other things....) removed, it is now as good as new, yay!

Printing

2007-03-08T13:37:00.000Z

Message from Yat Ng to www.callprint.co.uk:

"Please plot 2 copies, A1 black and white of the attached pdf files, UNFOLDED."

And of course when the drawings were delivered to my desk an hour later, they were neatly FOLDED. How odd.

Swedish Lunch

2007-03-08T00:00:00.000Z

Today I went to lunch with my Norwegian colleague Silje. We went to this new Scandinavian eatery Olly Olson on Wardour Street, and I had a meatball sandwich with ligonberry sauce, and mash potato plastered on top of it, how odd. It tasted good though.

Amongst other sandwiches they also have the staple Ikea Swedish food: deep fried battered fish fillet in a sandwich. Basically it is just like fish and chips, but in a sandwich, how odd.

1 March 2007

2007-03-01T18:08:00.000Z

It is the 1st of March today, and I am turning 30 this month. Urgh!!