Sofia. Ashley. Kuala Lumpur.

Why I Prefer To Eat With Chopsticks Instead of Cutleries.

2009-05-02T23:03:00.002+08:00

Earlier, I was having dinner with a mate from dance, her siblings and mom. We ate in Dragon-i (good place for Chinese food. Yummy !). On the way home, I was thinking about some wonderful cold-cuts that I ate in an Italian restaurant in KL.

And I was missing it. I don't know why was I still thinking about food when I just ate.. But yeahh.

I realized that eating with chopsticks might just be more elegant and polite in comparison to eating with cutleries like fork, knife and spoon. See, when you use fork, knife and spoon to eat; you have to violate the food to pick it up (poking, slicing etc.). With a chopstick, you simply position them skillfully between your fingers and gracefully lift the food.

Sooo.. It's more polite to eat with chopsticks. The relationship between the tool and food is more diplomatic.

:)

Sofia

Updates.

2009-04-28T21:58:00.009+08:00

Well well..
Hello :)

This blog has been pretty dead. But rest assured, it's not a reflection of a lack of events in our (Ash and I) lives. In attempt to breathe some life into this place, here's a quick update of what's been goin on !

Quick Update :

1. I recently performed for Caprice at the 23rd April Hennessy Event at the Loft, KL. I danced a short choreographed routine with a few other girls and just moved freestyle to compliment some of the songs he performed.

These dudes with shades on at night indoors are from Paris. They call themselves 'Starz Angel'. They're pretty cool. The guy in the middle adds flavour to the house/occasional hiphop mixes of his DJ buddies by adding a touch of reggae vocals. Good vibes.

This dude is Shamik Dynamik, a beat boxer from Vancouver. He's pretty cool too. It's amazing how anyone can train their vocals to make 2,3 or more sounds at once. Taught me and Kathryn (girl in black dress) some basic beat-boxing techniques. Watch out for us on youtube. We might just create a video soon. Lol.

Let me properly introduce Kathryn (girl in black dress). She is not a dancer, but she has enough flo to be one if she wanted to. Kathryn is a great friend of Ashley and I. All 3 of us went to the same college and we bonded over junkfood, assignments and whatnots in our college days. Kathryn is great. I hustled her in for the event. Ashley was supposed to be there too. But.. Yea. Anyway. That night we 'escorted' Caprice in a BMW 7 series around the block to walk a mini red carpet-press conference-like entrace and ate some of the food. It was an interesting experience.

Ashley was supposed to be there too. Grr. But I still love her.

Anyway. That's Caprice. Of course, he was also in the list of entertainment for the night.

Kat and I.

A piccie of the disco ball. LOOK CLOSELY. There's a Jack Skeleton like smiley.

2. My next dance performance will be on the 10th of May for a charity event. So the Black Rose dance crew is gonna dance for free. It's for an annual fund-raising dinner with the issue of Down Syndrome disease in mind.

3. ALSO. Unrelated to the Hennessy event thingy. . . This was the last time Ash, Kat and I were seen together. :( I think this was about a month ago. We were at a cocktail party near KLCC for Skin Club by Dermagenesis. The work place of Ashley and I on weekends.

4. Ashley just started her FIRST YEAR UNI in Raffles last week. Yay for her.

5. Architecture school has been very challenging in terms of the hardwork expected, creative-challenges, broad-knowledge-needed and also philosophically. And it's only the first month and a half ! But the thought of acquiring the skill to design a built environment for fellow humans, to serve humanly functions, private and public; feeds my drive to work work work. It's cool. My reasons for submitting myself to this hell is pretty fundamental me finks. Should be enough to keep me pushing for the years to come. My aim is to be a pragmatic artist in the best way I'll learn to be.

6. Hey! Write comments to spark up discussions or wtv. This place is DYING.

:)
Sofia

Public Restrooms.

2009-03-26T22:01:00.004+08:00

Hello.

The other day, I noticed something in the toilet of the library that shocked me. After casually relieving myself of some biological wastes, like what many humans do;I walked out of the cubicle to wash my hands, like the hygienic lil cutie pie I am. While washing my hands, in the reflection of the mirror, I noticed that water was splashing from the bottom of a cubicle door in very unnaturally large forces, producing too much noise for simple relieving biological transactions. A woman walked out, looking like she just showered. I just froze for a minute and smiled at her when I realized she must think I'm crazy for staring.

Ok, to clarify. I often see women showering in public toilets. Especially in my work place. Routinely, after evening shifts, there's a woman that showers in the toilet of my workplace in a traditional Malay sarong. The same sort that her mother or grandmother probably wore when they showered in the river back in their day. Sometimes, I see a younger woman showering her daughter. It's sad but true. They probably do that to save a few extra ringgits from their monthly water bill or they probably don't even have a sanitized water source compared to the public restrooms of their workplace to take very basic refreshing baths in. So, I have absolutely no reason to be shocked to see another woman looking like she just showered in a public restroom.

But i was.

And for the past week or so, while at work, in class etc. , my mind has been replaying that specific scenario over and over again. I think what struck me is that. . . I was in a university campus, in a solemn, proper prace like a library. In comparison to my workplace (Carrefour), which you'd expect to see all classes of people roaming about. I didn't expect to see that in an educational environment.

I don't know what to think of it. I don't know what should be done. I just know this: It's not a way to live. I've seen ladies looking in disgust or getting mad when they observe ''public bathers''. I understand both parties concerns.

On-looker ladies that observe in disgust :
1. They've waited substantial amount of time in line for someone to shower in an inappropriate shower place.
2. When there's a kid involved, they're probably thinking things like "No money, no make babies lah."
3. Or they're thinking "Great, now the toilet is wet and disgusting. As if the stench isn't bad enough."

'Public bathers':

"This is life."

Maybe I might carry around some of my favourite fruity/vanilla/floral flavoured scrubs for the next time I see such a thing... Might share my favourite bath things.. Or experience taking a public bath myself if ever I'm in a rush..

Some time in early March, I saw this man in KL. I was really embarassed to take this picture. He's probably more embarassed to have been recorded in carbon. I asked for permission anyways.. and there's a message behind it. And if you see this guy, buy him a drink or a meal.

I don't have a pic of women showering in rivers in their traditional sarong to share. But I'm sure you can imagine it. I'm sure it's quite an elegant sight.

When the mothers or grandmothers of women in the village allowed their daughters to leave for the city in search for a 'better life'. I don't think they thought their daughters would still don the same traditional sarongs to shower, what more in public toilets. Not even a rich river.

Food for thought,
Sofia.

I just realized.

2009-03-24T08:06:00.004+08:00

That Ashley and I are probably very easily mistaken to be
Wild girls.
We're actually

Domesticated, friendly girls.

As you can see.

MEANWHILE

2009-03-23T01:16:00.007+08:00

While some people enjoyed the sun, salty water and exposed buns, others slaved away in the backgrounds of society, trying to finish assignments. The battle never ends.

Right now, I'm focusing on the ''weirdest'' assignment. I have to create an 'architecturial garment'. The purpose is to familiarize myself with the way the 'design process' works. I have to start with a concept, decide on a material to work with and a technique to use on the material. No glue allowed. Materials are limited to foam, wire mesh, paper and chopsticks.

The concept has to be ONE personality trait of mine that not every person might have. I decided to focus on my personal trait of being a dreamer. But I'm abit more practical than a dreamer. Maybe an escapist/idealist.. I don't know. I just know I can be quite the imaginative lil bunny. Anyway, I started playing with wiremesh. I did origami with wiremesh successfully. But it's a painful process. So I decided to use the most basic material of the lot and try to be a genius :P

This is my progress so far :

From basic white sheets of paper

I messed around with the Japanese art of origami

And got this.

Trust me, there's logic to it!! My siblings think I'm crazeh.
I question if I'm sitting on a rocky chair dangerously between the lines of sanity and insanity too.
I won't explain my creation til I'm done... Back to work!

pikchaaass!

2009-03-22T19:16:00.009+08:00

ooh, I think I can see my house from here!

.....The Simpsons.. *The Simpsons melodious theme song playing in the background discreetly*
(inside joke)

Just for the LOLs! tee-hee =)

sunning my bum-buns.. or lack there of.

Daddy, I want that one for christmas!

"blow" me.

like a candle, dancing in the wind.

"ahoy, maytee!"

Fiierrce!!

lovin' the breeze in my hair!

....and that pretty much sums up my trip to Langkawi! =)

Holla!

2009-03-22T17:46:00.005+08:00

Sorry for the long hiatus,

I'm back from LANGKAWI baybays!

I got all boozed up and sunned my buns to the tender hue of ROAST TURKEY!!

I fell asleep under the sun for a tad too long and now I'm GOLDEN BROWN!

Well, actually I was as red as a lobster before, so I guess being brown ain't too bad.. (observe below, the striking resemblance of my skin to the color of the watermelon)

I bet I already have skin cancer.

Although I have been told I look less sickly, I think it'll take awhile for me to get used to this.

However, it was a painful experience the first few days after being grilled under the sun;

I had to go around town bra-less for 3 days *shy-shy*

Owh well, it was a rather "liberating" experience overall =) tee-hee

Last Night.

2009-03-21T21:39:00.005+08:00

After class, went for karaoke with Ashley and some other friends.
Nice way to unwind on a Friday night.
I had to think twice about going out although it was the weekend.
Had alot of assignments.
Solution : I brought one of my assignments along.
Was doing it in the car, in a friends place, while waiting for food.
Sounds as if I was getting kinky with assignments..
How exciting.

Here's a vid.

*There's some issue with the audio in the vid. It's under repair :)

Oh No. This Is A Very Bad Thing.

2009-03-16T19:11:00.005+08:00

Hello...

Today I learn my lesson to not depend on technology (and little sisters). I got home from uni about an hour ago, changed into something comfortable, tied my hair, played some Beatles and I was ready to burn the midnight oil tonight to complete a whole load of work that's due this Wed. But when I opened my D-drive, EVERYTHING was gone. Only one weird file titled 'Download Servlet' was in it. . . . This is such a terrible feeling. Terribly terrible feeling . . . . I tried shutting down and restarting and bla bla bla. I even downloaded this software called ''Undelete Plus" incase some lil rascal accidentally deleted something. But I think it's a virus. Cause I can't view my camera memory card to do some sketches too.

I don't care about my researches for work. Mildly care about my writtings and past artwork and findings of interesting artworks and writtings by other people. But I really, really, really care about the pictures with family and friends from highschool until date.

I feel so horrible and helpless right now :(
I'm venting in a silly blog that's supposed to be about happy things :( :(
Because my phone is out of load :( :( :(
Humans are out of reach.
Look at how dependant on technology I am. Handphone. D-drives...
It's disgusting. :(

In consolation, I guess alot of pictures are in my facebook. But ALOT are not. The best ones are not in facebook. The candid ones of my siblings and Milou ( my cute little dog ). I was going to submit a picture of him ''smilling'' for this ''Cutest Pet'' thing and take him out on the 29th for this pet event thing. Pics from the sweet nothings of hanging out with friends during highschool days/college days/outings/parties. The ones that were overexposed, too noisy, but awesome in essence. My 18th birthday. All the follow-ups of my 17th birthday. Videos. Backstage for dance shows. Eating with the family.. It's not often my family sits down together, all 5 of us and sit down for a meal. I think the last time that happened was sometime last month for the Chinese New Year celebration. Those pics are gone too. . . Bla bla bla.. Ohh.. And I kept everything so well organized. Chronology of events. Each year it's own folder. This is so depressing... I can't afford this ''lapse'' or wtv. . . I have work to get back to . . . :( :( :( :( . . .

Pictures and videos are not that important right . ? Just cause I lost the pictures and videos of friends and family doesn't erase the fact that I experienced all those things with them. Photographs are great to revisit such memories though. Especially when you're looking through ''2008'' and you stumble across some moments you forgot. And it just makes your heart smile & you feel awesome like a lil possum inside . . :( :( :( :(

I guess.. 2009 will bring more pics and videos, that I will religiously burn into DVDs or something . Meanwhile, I might give myself another hour to feel horrible about this. . . Maybe play an exercise listing down '' 100 Things That Could Be Worse Than Losing All Those Pictures In Your D-Drive " to try to feel better . . . I'm suddenly very angry with IT people who invent such terrible viruses and spywares. I imagine them enjoying some IT joke like, " ERROR 238798472934 !!! " followed by a sinister laugh, each time their monstrous html creations put some people in misery.

. . . . . . Buy me an ice-cream the next time you see me or pat my head. I might like that. I'm sure it feels much better than talking to myself in this space.

Thanks in advanced, dear reader.
Empty, helpless, D-Drive(less), Handphone-loadless,
Sofia

Poor Japanese.

2009-03-12T23:39:00.004+08:00

I would like to use this space to congratulate Shiori (a Japanese person) for getting an offer to SOKA uni in US. BUT, they gave her a conditional offer for 2010. Because they didn't trust her proficiency in the English language. The girl got 81% or something in her Eng4u in ICPU (a Canadian Pre-U course). Americans... What can you say... And she has to take an unnecessary extra year in US to 'brush up her English'. Duddeee.. I bet she can spell better than alot of Americans (no offence intended). She's Japanese. They take education seeeeerioussllyy. She asked me what to do. I said write to them and gracefully state why she thinks her english is up to par. Include the following:

''If it isn't bad enough that I come from a country called MALAYSIA, where we sound like we live on trees. I'm not even rich in this country called MALAYSIA. Imagine how insignificant my financial status would be in AMERICA. So here I am, applying for a scholarship. And there you go, asking me to do an EXTRA year (extra costs) to learn a language I can already deconstruct, analyze or write critical essays in."

But nah. Shiori shouldn't really include that.

On an unrelated note, the moon looks brilliant tonight. It has a reddish/orange hue to it and it's sititng like an amazingly defined sharp circle (or ellipsis) in the sky. It stands out like the red circle against white of the Jap flag (just made this connection to tie it to the above topic. I didn't really think that when I saw the moon). Amazing. Wish my camera had batteries.

Sofia

Clarification.

2009-03-11T22:32:00.009+08:00

I like what Ashley's doing.
Short, simple, aqua blue fonted posts.

All goodbyes cause "shes going some place".
As if her life's SOOO fast-paced.
And she has nooo time to blog because shes
Soo busy with cool pursuits.

Ashley is NOT that cool :P
Doooon't fall for
Her short, simple, aqual blue fonted posts.
In the last minute, she didn't even follow her family to Lumut.

*le sigh*

Here are some pics of Ashley (&me).
To make up for her absence.

Pictures from trip to Elephant Sanctuary 2008

It was tooooo darn early to be awake. But we did it for elephantes.

I was surprised that I was quite afraid of the friendly giants when I first saw them.
When I was 12, I was carried by an elephant by the trunk, as if a log.

Like this :

I guess since then, after puberty and boobs, I became more and more ladylike/sissy/prudish.
>:) . . . I was such a lil rascal/tomboy/idiot when I was <12.

Ashley was a little more graceful with the friendly giants.

:)
Sofia

Aruba, Jamaica, Ooh I wanna take ya, to...

2009-03-11T21:28:00.003+08:00

..a place called LANGKAWI!!

yeah, baybehh!

SEA, SUN, SAND & CHEAP BOOZE GALORE! *woohoo*

well yea, I'd be leaving on a jet plane(air asia) tomorrow.

Kinda have mixed feelings about the trip, but the anticipation is building up though.

Maybe it's 'cause every time I plan something, or hope for something to happen; IT NEVER HAPPENS THE WAY I WANT IT TO.

NEVER.

So far nothing colossal has been in my way, but I have this gut-feeling that something will.

Owh well.. I'm sure I'd be able to live through it! *fingers-crossed*

Anyhoo,

I'm off to sun my buns! =)

xoxo

Decadence.

2009-03-08T15:12:00.003+08:00

I said you can have whatever you like

Stacks on me.. Patron on ice
You can have whatever you likeee

Late night sex *censored censored*

Baby you can go wherever you likeeee

Bla bla bla. bla bla bla bla bla..
Want you..blablablabla..
Million dollar.. blabla

Yeah I want yo body
Need your body
Blbalbala

Go get it i buy it
Tell them otha broke niggaz be quiet

BLbalbalbla

Said you can have whatever you like
Yeahhh

Late night sex so wet *censored censored*

I said you can go wherever you likee

Yeahhh

Shawtie u the hottest
Love the way you drop it..BLabalba

Bla bla bla tropics..

Bla bla.. Pocket..
. . bla bla bla
My chick can have what she want
Bla bla any bag she want
She aint nvr had a man like that

BLa blabla

I want yo body
Need yo body

You got me dont need body...

Blbala
Stacks on me Patron on ice
We can pop bottles all night
Baby you can have whatever you likeee

Let me put this big boy in your life
Thats right.

You want it I got it
Go get it buy it
Tell them other broke niggaz be quiet..

blabla

Whatever you likeee.. Yeaaaahh

( Whatever you like - T.I. )

If a guy performed this for me infront of me... I wont know whether to moan, cry or take whatever I like and leave.

Tonight, tonight.

2009-03-08T03:01:00.008+08:00

Ola mamis and papis and others that bask in the luxury of both.

I add a third category today because I just got home from late dinner with a group of friends and good people I just met, mostly of which are category 3 ladies. And it's awesome. A 'category 3' shouldn't even exist, I'd say... And human 'race' is all that should matter. And a priority of goodness towards people and planet should prevail above all things (religion, race, sexual orientation etc.). And people and planet shouldn't have to be separate categories too.

Oookkk. Alot of 'Ands' and 'Shoulds' today.

Today was a good day (I'm not going to write daily I think. Too taxing. My life's not that interesting anyways. If I wrote everyday, most posts would be mind-bleeding-long-pointless like previous post.) Anyway. Today was a good day :)

Luxuriously woke up at 3pm, ate t-lunch (tea+lunch hybrid) hopped on a train to KL to support 2 friends who were starring in a musical. Both studying performing arts. And dropped by a simple art exhibition which I stumbled on before the musical.

The artist's name is Lisa Roet. She specializes in Orang Utans. And you should visit her website to find out more about her because those two lines I typed are not a fair intro of the artist at all. ( http://www.lisaroet.com/biography.html )

These pieces were very simple on art paper and done with acrylic
(it felt like acrylic to the touch anyway).

These were some moulds from plastic against lightings.
There's a theme of 'danger' with the lightings.
Here I go again, stating superficial obviousness. My specialty.

I really liked her simple works. Not too embellished. I like that she dedicates all her art work to capturing our furry cousins in a simple, tasteful light and she lets the literal existence of the creature speak for its own charm. Alot of things in nature exist in very beautiful mathematical soundness, physical form and function. They don't need to be further embellished. Art with a cause. That's great.

I used to hate apes, chimpanzees, monkies and orang utans when I was young (single digit old, I'm still young). I liked baboons though, I found their exposed red butts funny and cute.. Most cartoons portray them in that light. That's all that mattered. When discovery channel showed documentaries on orang utans, monkies etc. I would disapprove and flip the channel. They weren't cute enough and I found them somewhat ugly. I think I almost hated them. Because sometimes out of the blue, when I think about 'What are my favourite animals', I always thought monkies are not adorable and think about the things that contribute to that like the usually brown colour of their fur, the long, thin, malnutrioned-looking fur etc. I also would hope that I don't have to pass by the monkey section in the zoo to get to the penguin or giraffe section. . Thank god such narrow-mindedness tends to get lost with age.
Hmm. I remember such small things in my long-term memory so vividly. But I don't think I remember what I ate few days ago.

I ate a fruit/seed thing from that flower in the last frame. I think it's a kind of lotus flower. No one else did that.. I don't think we're supposed to do that... No one was sitting at the desk. I've eaten the fruit from the flower before.. Sorry plant. Don't leave your plants unattended around me. I might be tempted to eat them.. Haha. Sofia, the lotus eater. True sometimes in more ways than one.

This charcoal sketch orang-utan hand welcomes us when we walk into the gallery. One on the left wall, another on the right wall and they looked identical. I don't know if it was meant to 'welcome' us. There was no commentary or person to comment. Maybe it's extending a palm faced up in a way to say 'help us'. Maybe the index and thumb are complimenting the orang utan's thought which says '' You bloody humans make decisions like you have brains (or other body parts) that's this big. " But the artist didn't want to sketch that negative orang-utan thought. Cause if some of us humans knew orang-utans had hostile thoughts about us, we might not want to help them as much. And little kids who thought like I did would hate them more and the hate would be cultivated further. Art is very subjective.

A very candid shot of me taking off my shawl. I kept everything else on.

Those two girls are the lovely ladies that I was supporting in the musical.

The musical thing was cool. It was a series of small acts and a short musical, titled 'The Chorus Line'. I love it when people express humanly emotions and inspire through photography, paintings etc. But when people express it through singing, dance, acting etc. , the physical involvement just gets a message across very quickly and very much more profoundly in terms of 'feeling it'. It's just something else. Tonight made me want to try acting for fun. I probably would only successfully do improvisations like.. "Ok Sofia. Feel the tree. Think the tree. Beeee the treee". I don't think I can play humans well. I think I have a poor comprehension of human behaviour.

I like blogging :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D It's great self-amusement. I'm allowed to talk about myself in essay long lengths.

I hope I don't bore you. I noticed the blog counter thing has reached 75. Not bad for 2 days. The counter only counts new people. I know because I tried refreshing the page few times to get the number to go up . . To make this blog seem popular. Haha. It didn't budge.

Don't budge, keep coming back to this blog pls.
And don't be shy to comment :) *inviting smiley*
Love, Sofia.

All Work And No Play Makes Jack A Dull Boy.

2009-03-07T04:36:00.005+08:00

Good morning.

Ash and I were invited to SOME fun Friday night plans in KL. But we turned them down for respective reasons. I decided to work a night shift and Ashley decided to sleep early to physically/mentally prepare her for her lil weekend trip to Lumut. We are such good girls.

I like working in a cafe. Ever since classes started, I always dread the thought of working a shift after class. But once I'm in the midst of work, I feel this silent contentment and peace again. I like that I'm the only Barista on shift at a time (with a Manager on duty of course). But it's great. It's as if for that few hours I own the cafe and I love handing a good cup of coffee/beverage/plate of hot muffin etc. to customers and wishing strangers "Have a good weekend" and meaning it altho I don't really know the person. And I'm getting paid to extend niceness, warmth and learn about coffee. . . . I sound like a crazy optimist. Haha.

I'm not always an optimist. My usual disposition is skeptical towards anything. I don't know if that's the same as being a realist. But I wouldn't say I'm a cynic. I think there's a big difference between a skeptic and a cynic. But I see the words being used interchangably more often than not. A cynic has his/her mind set on proving something 'wrong' so he/she will just keep looking for arguments to fight his/her stand. A skeptic looks for 'truth' and challenges a stand not to prove a stand wrong but just out of a healthy need to know. I imagine in a sandbox, the kid named 'Cynic' would point out the presence of a new, exotic looking kid to the other kids in a negative manner. The kid named 'Skeptic' would ask alot of questions that might seem too forward to some but with the intention to satisfy a curiosity.

Oookkayyyyyyy. Oh yeah. At work tonight, I kept thinking about how alot of people are getting retrenched/losing jobs due to the current global economic situation. But here I am, a young student, not jobless. I feel like someone else with mouths to feed should take my spot. But I don't think the GIANT CORPORATION that I work for is too affected in this part of the world. My dad complains that the big nations complain too much about this recession. They're only getting a first hit and news broadcasts are making suchhh big deals out of it. Asian continents were just recovering from the 1997 Asian economic crisis, and this recession thingy hit the world. Meaning Asia is facing a 2nd round. I don't know which bias is fair. Or if 'bias' can ever be fair. Like between an oppressor and oppressed. Should you even pick sides? . .. Just thought it's an interesting perspective of the situation to share. Food for thought. Chew on it. Then tell me what you think.. I'm too lazy to think currently. . . I am rambling on.

Fact: 'Lumut' is a Bahasa Malaysian word that literally means 'Moss'.

Kate Lumut. (Kate Moss)
Lumutes. (Moses)
Lumutquito. (Mosquito)

Good Night.
Sofia

"Be Right Back"

2009-03-07T04:17:00.005+08:00

I will be going to Lumut for the weekend with the family.

Monday is a public holidayyy Wheeeeeeeee >_<>
Ashley

Finally.

2009-03-05T21:30:00.012+08:00

Hello there :)

It's nice to see Ashley finally wrote something.. Thanks for the very comprehensive intro Ashley. Very graceful. I can FEEL your love and commitment to this blog which we gave birth to together. It's as if we now live in a same house and we're having discord in habits like washing dishes and hanging underwear.

Unreliable friends aside (Haha. I meant that in the most loving of ways. I love Ashley, both her strengths and shorcomings. She loves me too. We love each other... passionately) some updates about my humble little life...

Formal education-wise, I'm now one week (and two days) into my architecture-degree program! *imagines a crowd cheer and mexican wave dedicated to me*. So far, it's really great. Archi is much more than what I hoped for and understood it to be. The first few days of orientation was just speeches and workshops and speeches and speeches and oh-my-god-kill-me more speeches. It was pretty depressing, yet inspiring at the same time when some well-spoken speakers came up to talk to us. Charming mix. Every speaker (lecturer, program director, etc.) seems to stress on some similar points in their speeches :

1. Architecture is a very demanding course, if you don't feel like you're in the right place, leave now. Not 3 years into your degree and realizing you're stuck in a rut.

2. Architecture is also a very rewarding course. Architects don't just 'build buildings'. Architects are utilitarian artists. We identify problems and design a solution (in the form of buildings, furniture, parks, etc.) ... I love it.

3. There's also a stress on producing sustainable (green) designs. Great stuff.

The course is already challenging me. The first Saturday of the school calendar was not wasted. The uni organized an 'Orientation Trip' in Central Market. We walked around KL for about a hour or so to some old sites and picked up scraps of recycable garbage we found here and there. When we got back to the Annexxe, each group had to design a street-furniture that could be used. My group designed a simple bird-feeder/bath. Our design won.

But since that trip, nothing's coming as easy anymore. I already have a big assignment to work on for Design Studio class. And it's really challenging my preconceived appreciation of aesthetics and art. I love to decorate and make things pretty. I'd say it's one of my passions. Give me a small, run-down room and I have a drive to make it homey and inviting with pillows, blankets, dim-lighting, regardless of the exterior. My lecturer in Design Studio calls such ''unnecessity'' a crime and ''decoration'' is a bad word. In a nutshell : For my current assignment which is worth 20% of my final mark (very hefty for a first assignment) , I have to resist my natural tendency to wish to 'decorate' (serves no function) with colour, symbols etc. and instead adopt a philosophy that utilizes space solely for 'function'. I don't think I'm making sense to you right now. Haha. I'm currently reading this book I found in the library that was referenced by my lecturer in one of her hand outs. It's called 'The Poetics of Architecture'. It's so philosophical. It makes less sense than I do right now.

Architecture. Architecture. Architecture. Haha. Sorry.
At least I'm excited :)

Dear friends who read this and love me, please watch out for me and try to make sure I don't get too lost in the artsy and philosophical world of architecture that my defining lines between weirdness and reality become too blurry.

Ashley will be joining me soon, it the further study of an Arts world. But not in my uni nor direction. She's going to pursue Business Marketing but with a focus on Fashion. Is it called Fashion Marketing? I don't know.

Cool stuff.

I really miss some things about 2008. I love the excitement in the possibilities of 2009, but ICPU was a really great course to be in. I wouldn't go back to sit for each class over again, but I'd go back to have lunches occasionally with the people who are still around and visit some lecturers :)

Faces and colours of 2008.

Look behind me, there's levels of tie-dye shirts waiting to dry.

Some tie-dye shirts for the 'World Peace Day' effort.

We used to arrange frequent 'swimming/long lunch sessions' in the condos around Subang area. More than half of the people in this picture are gone now..And I just might not see them again in life ..

This was Ashley and I during the 'Hear Us Out' conference.

I miss this girl. She was home-schooled, so she had a very charming, naive view of people and the world (1000192873982 times worse than me). It's unbelievable the questions she asks sometimes. But she's a real smart girl. We used to sit in McD everyday for the free Coke refills and talk about everything . . from sex, religion to sharing racist jokes about Mustafa in his presence. . I make her sound like a friend from a village in India. haha.

This is Mustafa (Don Corleone) with Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe during the ICPU halloween night.

This is the bunch for Malaysian studies class. We are ridiculous in class. But I love Mr. Aree (our teacher). His heavy accented comments deserve to be framed in a hall.
'Vaowwww. Vyou arr not only beautiful but brrrrrrriliant!'
oh. In facebook. I get alot of random Arab men who requested to tag Ashley in this picture series (theres more). Tags like 'Wow.. Ashley' and 'Sexy'. Hahaha. I don't know how to limit what can be seen in my profile. Teach me.

. . .

That was that.

I'm a big girl now.
Time to move on to big girl things.

Mucho love,
Sofia.

..trailing behind

2009-03-01T21:19:00.003+08:00

Alritey peeps! (if there are ANY people reading this blog), you can now put a halt in your much anticipated wait for.. MY introductionn! *yay*

Okay, so you've heard, I'm Ashley.

Close friends call me Ash, or Ho.

But not because I'm a Ho though (well, not really?)

And I guess I do owe an explanation for the delay; so here goes..

I HATE MY JOB!

It absolutely does not allow me to indulge in my personal life! (not that there's anything to indulge in.. but still!)

It requires me to do heaps of typing/printing/phone-answering/coffee-making/accounts-checking/customer-greeting(..and it doesn't stop there)

..All that! while keeping a smile on my face!

AND THEY PAY ME PEANUTS!

..well you know what.. You pay peanuts; You get MONKEYS! garrrrrhhhh!!

UPDATE: Ashley just quit her job.

Impatience.

2009-02-25T21:18:00.001+08:00

I probably should wait for Ashley to post her hello message too before any official post is put up. But she's not online. I am. And I'd like to introduce a new character to this blog.

Meet Pedro.

We spotted Pedro the millipede while resting from our promotional work in KL today. It was really unnecessary to name him (Ashley did). But we transfered him from concrete civilisation to the well trimmed little Japanese garden outside this Japanese restaurant in Menara Hap Seng.

SO. Now. The hierarchy of imporant characters in this blog is as follows :

P.S. Times New Roman is now my font. Ash.. You'll just have to do with an... Ariel or.. Trebuchet.. or Courier. :)

Birth.

2009-02-25T19:36:00.000+08:00

Hello.

Very much in the spur of the moment, while roaming the streets of KL today, Ashley and I felt inspired to start a blog.. together. It started when she brought up the topic of the Singaporean blogger Dawn Yang (whom Ashley finds gorgeous). There's a number of bloggers out there that make money from just simply blogging. And I said 'two girls should be better than one'. This maxim is applicable to many things I noticed. So why not blogging. I don't know where do we plan to go with this and I highly doubt we'll be making any money from this effort.. Haha.. We don't fall under any of the categories (socialites/opinionated reporters/travellers/models) that usually fascinate readers. But we're two simple, lovable girls with lots of positive & wholesome energies to vibe off.

Simply put. Just expect many records of random, charming elements of youth. This should be interesting.

xx
Sofia.

Smiley on the sidewalk. I am a plant. Ashley is another smiley.