Final post on Singapore Trip!

Finally! Took me almost 2 months to post this entry. *sigh*. I know. It took me forever to do everything now. That includes blog design. *ampuunn*. Anyway, some more photos of my no-so-recent trip to Singapore. We went to visit the new landmark for Singapore, the Marina Sands. But first, we headed to the Singapore City Gallery. This is where you can find the masterplan for the whole Singapore development and even models of the development! I wonder how long do they take to make all the models. Look at them!

Next, we went to the Singapore National Museum. The building is a mixture of colonial and modern design. 

 There was this one exhibition area, and the theme was 'beauty in black'. They showcase some of this famous dresses designed and worn by famous people The only name I know was Karl Lagerfield :P The designed the display looking like a runway.

Next, to the Marina Sands. This building consists of 3 towers. Casino, Hotel and Apartment. The viewing deck/sky deck is open for public. Tickets can be purchased at the entrance of the tower for S$20 I think.

 on the viewing deck. On the right side is where the famous infinity pool is. You don't get that effect from this view though.

Finally, we went to this public housing called The Pinnacle @ Duxton. 

This public housing design is really amazing. With sky gardens interconnecting with the towers. If you're wondering what is public housing, it is a development for to make affordable homes for the residence. In Malaysia, we called it 'rumah flat' :P

If this is how 'affordable housing in Malaysia is, count me in!

 Well I guess that's all peeps! On Singapore trip I mean.

Sorry for the looonnngggg delay!

Things about Singapore that amazed me

When I first arrived in Singapore, I can never stopped from being 'ooh.. aahhh' over their vast development. Anyway, next building visited was this just-completed cluster homes called Mont Timah located at Hindede Drive, Singapore. Why it is called cluster? There are 4 units in one cluster. Each unit consists of 5-storey, 2 basement carparks ,a private lift and roof terrace. 3 or 4 units came with private pool/jacuzzi.

{clockwise : view of the cluster homes from the entrance, main pool, layout of the cluster homes}

{l-r : close up of one of the unit, the pool area}

I heard the price of each unit was S$6mil. or something around that.

 Then we are off to visit this SOTA building (School or Arts, Singapore).The Kirk Terrace city-campus building was built by WOHA Architects, Singapore.

{clockwise : front entrance of SOTA, link bridge on the building, green creepers}

Later we visited another art school called LaSalle College of Arts (boy. they do have a lot of art school here don't they?)This building was design by RSP Architects. I like the idea of green space at the center of the building where students and people could just sit around, read books, talking and kids playing. It's open for public use too.

{clockwise : green space at LaSalle, walls outside of the building, link bridges}

Feel excited about architecture now? Wait till you see my next entry. Tomorrow! Got lot of work to do. Stay tunedd!!!

Visit to Rene's Residence

Hello gorgeous! I know I haven't been updating this blog for quite something (blowing dust). The truth is, I'm so occupied with work at the office and my design blog which has been part of my night shift :P

Anyway, I went to Singapore recently for a study trip organized by my company. It's an annual trip where we will visit some of the architecture in the country we are visiting.

So the 1st building we visited of the day was Mr. Rene Tan's residence Nestled in a delightful suburb of Watten Estate. Mr. Rene Tan is one of the founder of RT+Q architect firm in Singapore.

Anyway, this house is originally a terrace house and has been converted into sort of like a semi-d with a wading pool on the side of the house.

{clockwise : front facade, pool side, Mr. Rene Tan & our principal, Lillian Tay}

He was kind enough to give all of us a private tour of this house. This house has been featured in numerous books and magazines.

{clockwise : Rene showing the model of the house, spiral staircase, view from 2nd floor}

When we 1st reach this house, the 1st thing we saw was this cantilevered box on the 1st floor of the house and wondered what is inside the room.

His daughter's room! It was more like a showcase area with nicely arranged toys and books. I want this for my boy! :P

I still got more photos to share with you. Maybe the next entry??

To be continued....

If you love books, you will faint with this awesome libraries!!

I used to love to go to the libraries and just sat there reading books and look at the magazines.But the only libraries I've ever been to were Alor Setar's Public Library and USM's. (see the bold word used to?) Because I don't do that anymore!and it's a sad thing that I hardly read any books nowadays. I can't even remember the last book I've read too!!! Teruk la ida!!

Anyway, last week I got this email from a friend yang rajin mengforward-forward email ni. Photos of the most incredible libraries around the world!!!Even I'm not an avid library goer was awed with these amazing photos!

1. University Club Library - New York City, United States

2. Canadian Library of Parliament - Ottawa, Canada

3. Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library - New Haven, Connecticut

4. Iowa State Capital Law Library - United States 

5. Suzzalo Library at the University of Washington - Seattle, Washington

6. Admont Abbey Library - Austria

7. State Library - Victoria, Australia

8. Library at El Real Monasterio de El Escorial - Madrid, Spain

9. Jos Vasconcelos Library - Mexico City, Mexico

10. Real Gabinete Portugu's de Leitura - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

11. National Library of Finland - Helsinki, Finland

12. Mitchell Library - Sydney, Australia

13. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at University of Toronto - Toronto, Canada

14. George Peabody Library - Baltimore, Maryland

Okay. You can close your mouth now :P

Any of you been to any of these libraries???

Do you dare to swim at this pool?

A friend sent this on my email yesterday. Worth sharing :)

Don't go off the VERY deep end... Infinity pool 55 STORIES above ground opens in Singapore in dazzling new £4bn resort

He'll definitely want to make sure he doesn't swim too close to the edge.
This man is the first lap swimmer in the world to enjoy such a view - 55 stories over the city of Singapore.
The £4billion Marina Bay Sands tourism development opened in the city yesterday, and the 150-metre long pool - three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool - was a highlight.

Don't look down: A guest swims in the infinity pool of the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers - 55 stories over the city of Singapore yesterday

To infinity... and beyond! The pool stretches 150 metres, three times the length of an Olympic swimming pool 

The view over the side: An artist's impression shows the Skypark that tops the Marina Bay Sands hotel towers, including the infinity pool

Infinity pools are designed to make it seem as though the water extends to the horizon. In reality, the edge of the pool is usually about an inch below the water level. The water therefore spills over the edge into a catchment below, and is then pumped back into the pool.

The concept is said to have been inspired by the terraced rice paddies in Bali, Indonesia. They are often seen in luxury resorts such as the Marina Bay Sands.  

In Singapore, Marina Bay Sands will be the pivot point in which tourism here is going to explode,' gaming tycoon Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp, the parent company of the resort, said at its opening celebration yesterday.

The resort from across the bay. The three towers were based on a deck of cards, according to designer Moshe Safdie

 A skydiver parachutes pass the Singapore Flyer and Marina Bay Sands casino resort as part of the venue's opening celebrations yesterday

 Extreme: Left, relay teams scale one of the towers in a race commemorating the opening yesterday. Right, a newly-wed couple enjoy a canal ride inside the resort's shopping centre

The enormous hotel, which dominates the Singapore skyline, has 2,560 rooms and suites, a fleet of celebrity chef restaurants, shopping areas, theatres, a museum, a casino and a crystal pavilion.  

The resort is set to employ 10,000 people directly and generate up to £48million each year. Entrance to the casino alone is nearly £50 a day - but an average of 25,000 people have visited the casino daily since its initial phased opening two months ago. 

Thomas Arasi, president and chief executive officer of the resort, said he expects to attract an astonishing 70,000 visitors a day, 18 million a year.
The resort was designed by Moshe Safdie, who said he based it on a deck of cards. 

the entrance to the casino, which costs nearly £50 to get in and is attracting 25,000 visitors each day.

 It was due to open in 2009, but was delayed thanks to labour and material shortages, and funding problems due to the global financial crisis.
Last night, singing legend Diana Ross performed for 2,500 VIPs in the resort's Grand Ballroom. Singer Kelly Rowland also headlined an outdoor concert there yesterday.

The opening celebrations also featured a death-defying relay. Seven teams of three participants each scaled the three towers in succession before sprinting across the 340-metre long Sands SkyPark, where the infinity pool is located, to the finish line. 

 Just enjoying the sun: Models pose in the pool for journalists at the grand opening yesterday

*****

I really really wanted to go here and witness history in the making for architecture. It's not really far that you have to travel millions of miles to see this wonder. It's in Singapore baby! :)

The most exciting event of the year!

So this is where I've been for the past 2 days. It is a an exhibition for Architects, Interior Design & Building that's called ARCHIDEX. This is an annual event that held at the KL Convention Centre. It is a good event too for those who are looking for Interior Designer to decorate their home or looking for the latest products at the market for your home because they are all here under one roof. If you missed this year's event, do not fret. There will be more next year :)

Anyway, I didn't do any shopping when I was here in KL. My time spent mostly on lrt, walking and taxis. *sigh.* Nak shopping pon dah takde kuderat.

This will be my 1st time taking ERL from Salak Tinggi to KL Central. They offer free shuttle service from LCCT to go to the nearest ERL station. The ticket from Salak Tinggi station to KL Central is RM12.50. Oh I brought along my baby this time. It's been awhile since the last time I took him out for a stroll.

Oh not Hariz-baby, but this baby...

THEbag

I had this for my 'hantaran' almost 2 years ago. I seldom use it because afraid I might spill something on it and a tad heavy. uhuuuhh..Lenguh jugak la bahu bawak. But I'm lovin' it! I put my slr, my water bottle, my chocolate , everything! :P

THErailway

The best thing about this event is I got to meet all my ex unimate here. And even my lecturers! This is more like a huge gathering for all of us. A place for us to gather and catch up on things.

nieta : me : nida

vivien : me : dona

 sanyo : king : seng lee
sorry dear i cant remember ur name : me : vivien : dona

One of the speaker doing his thing at his best

That night, I went out with my sis and zhaf. Initially, we wanted to have dinner at Zinmai, but something happened , malas nak story here, (in the end we only managed to eat 5 items out of 20 and they were on the house :P), we went to Chili's.

It was full house because of the game last night. Netherlands VS Brazil. Giler pecah Chilis tu diaorg menjerit :P

Oh almost for got, this next photo, I want to dedicate it to Verde (hehe.. macam gempak je :P). There were this section where they displayed a few works done by selected architect. While I was browsing the boards, I saw something that catches my eye and immedietly it reminds me of verde :P

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Honestly, I never encouter this Verde word before until I met Verde (baizura) :P So verde, enlighten us again with the meaning? :)

Thank you for looking!