Discipline

I know of a lot of my architecture-mates who have abundant storage of wine and beer in their rooms, but I didn't know that I would become one of them! Not strictly true, but I'm here in my room drinking my wonderful drink, and often being called as a "Alcohol-ghost" (in Chinese) by my flatmate. 
Oh just had another sip, this taste absolutely heavenly! This is no ordinary wine that I am drinking, it's a Christmas wine! To be exactly accurate, I think I only drink kids-wine, whether there is such a thing as kids-wine is debatable... but all these alcoholic drink I consume, are so colourful and creative. 

   

Second-hand bookshops and Charity shop are places filled with hidden gems, ancient auction house catalogues, £1 CDs... I ventured out into the Saturday morning sun, wanting to get ONE book, but ended up getting, 4 books, 2 tops, 1 CD, 1 poster, 1 bag.... why? can anyone tell me why?? 

Emelie is coming over to visit me now. Jack Johnson, wine, warmth, nice lighting, nice flat... oh perfect saturday evening, no? 

Achieving your dreams

Oh, dreams, dreams. "Oh, Connie, always lives in her own dream world" 

"Dreams' something quite luxurious, probably only the middle class could afford" 

Listening to a lecture on youtube, Randy Pausch last lecture at Carnegie Mellon. The lecture was published into a book. Books of these topics always appear on the market, but the name of one chapter attracted me constantly since I first see it. 

 

Oh, do you know I "am" always in constant struggle, in my mind, there are something that i really want to learn, and want to do. But how can I be sure? some would say that I am thinking too much... 

Experiencing Autumn

Can't believe that I was still in HK last week today, it feels so distant already. And it's interesting how I thought so little about that this time when I am back in Edinburgh. Barely even thought about HK! Gosh, that's wrong... But perhaps it's cuz I have been preoccupied with different things since I am back. Meeting people, moving, helping ppl move, meeting my host family, meeting new people and starting project. New courses, new groupmates, new flats and everything. But one thing that ensured our mental health quality is obviously our flat! Both Phoebe, my flatmate and I enjoyed it a lot, and of course, feels very surreal.  

Had a lecture on Design Theory today, it's really interesting. Why do art/architectural historian speak so much more gently and wonderfully, impressive, but not overly pretentious (like some architecture professors lol). Storytelling. Today's lecture was on Origins. Oh, so interesting. 

Trees are still green, sky is bright and warm, but I am sure autumn is on its way. 

I love it when someone I love tells me that he loves me, simple but sounds so sweet... oh.... 

Stanley and Pavlova

Can't believe that this is my last night in HK already, last night sleeping my in my bed at home. Being pampered, and getting to swim, to see dogs.... We had dinner in Stanley tonight, I felt like we are people from "Martial arts(?) novels" the last time we were here. It was nice. Stanley is not just pretty, but special. (of course). Then I had Pavlova with WWS, it was reli great as well, especially our chats. "You always remind me of something I have forgotten or something I have given up" I wonder what that is? Perhaps that's true for me too. Spring and Autumn are amazing seasons, they are seasons of "changes", and it would feel even more significant when I am back in Edinburgh. 

 

Ha, usually I feel positive when I am about to leave, as it's anticipated, for a long time, and I am well prepared psychologically, but when it comes to reality, when I realize that I am actually alone, I regret for being strong, feeling falsely positive - that's not true, not falsely, it's just that moment, when I didn't remember that feeling of actually leaving yet. Three months, as short as it sounds like, always end up feeling long. Especially with time difference, not enough amazing friends, too much work but too little warmth. Not totally in a negative way, but everyday passes so realizably slowly. As daylight gets shorter, bit by bit, I forget the feeling of being loved that I love, it's a very stupid cycle, but I guess it's difficult to avoid sometimes as that's the challenge of distance. 

Twenty three hours before I leave, feels very different from twenty three hours later. There was once when I saw my home from the plane, at night, and I can imagine that my parents are sleeping at home already, at my perfect home. Bad feeling. Sometimes I forgot how to stay strong. 

Definition

She loves him, he loves her too.
Perhaps they have different perspective on love
He thinks she's always bored and idle.
She thinks he's so busy, that she doesn't dare talking to him most of the time.
She needed to ask another friend to say goodnight to her every night, so that she felt that she's cared, and everyday would end perfectly. He did a great job, even when he's having a high fever, or out late, he would use every way to say goodnight to her. She thought she no longer needed that, and it's right that they stopped it.
He loves to invite others to their meetups, but she thought that a relationship is supposed to be among two people but not a group.

Perhaps she's unsuitable to be in love. For the last remaining 48 hours before they part again, she wish to spend more time with him, but that's unrealistic. Unrealistic. Perhaps there is something about the difference, that makes them unable to understand eachother.
They define love and relationship differently. Does she actually know him? Does he actually know her? Are they actually being themselves?
Should we cut short anything that hurt ourselves?

Sift | Creative Surprises

Really wanna have Sift! Didn't have it both Easter and Summer! Pavlova! and never been there at night. Sift is expensive, but professional! With really minimalist interior design, and really pretty view of the steep Graham Street 

 

Sift Chocolate Cake

chocolate ganache, jivara cremeux, praline crunch, chocolate fudge cake $72

Chocolate and strawberry pavlova

Chocolate and strawberry pavlova, chardonnay gelée $90

Maple and mascarpone cheesecake

Maple and mascarpone cheesecake, maple cream reduction, walnut shortbread $80

Ispahan

Raspberry, lychee rose macaroon sandwich, vanilla panna cotta, lychee ice cream $90

Chocolate Fantasie

Chocolate napoleon, chocolate crème brulée, warm chocolate tart, chocolate sorbet $90

Cherry napoleon

Summer cherries, almond pastry cream, napoleon layers $80

Sticky toffee pudding

Sticky toffee pudding, toffee sauce, banana ice cream, caramel crunch $75

Passion

Dark chocolate mousse, passion fruit cream, chocolate genoise $75

Molten choc cake

Molten chocolate cake, vanilla ice cream, chocolate almond crunch $85

Mid-Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival is a great time for the family and relatives to get together!  We also went to my aunt's home to see the cats in the afternoon. 

Keep looking up things related to going back to school... :S dun wanna think about it 

 

The lantern we made from grapefruit skin

  

Jaci and I pretending to be veterinarian

Infosthetics

   

| Life mapping |  The above is an infographical depiction of all intimate relationship in 23 years Gregory M. Dizzia was engaged in. relationships are analyzed by how they met (e.g. school, phone, party), impressive attributes (e.g. figure, eyes, karma), what they did (e.g. kissed), facts (e.g. engagement, possible baby, long distance), emotional involvement & how they broke up. Some of the icons are very hilarious, makes it even more interesting.

   

| Tokyo Metro Axo | I guess the Tokyo metro must be one of the world most complex rail system. These images were found in ffffound (a rare|weird image showcase). the above is an axonometric diagram of Otemachi Station. Drawing an axonometric diagram for it must be a nightmare. 

| Architecture on a Periodic Table | 

Pre-Mid.Autumn Festival

Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most romantic nights in the year! I am so glad that I am able to spend it in HK this year! There is a party in the Bel-Air "meadows" this evening, with a lot of lanterns, mooncakes, and games!Wai Wei Sum, Sheung yuen and Niki joined the party, played lanterns and had dinner together. 

We started playing Scrabble afterwards, but didn't get to finish it! Niki and WWS did miraculously well on the puzzle ohoh, surprise surprise lol. Sheung yuen bumped in to Hayley and her dad! small world! We had fun in the little village of Bel-Air XD hahahaha and my little red room. 

We still want to play Monopoly, Football machine, floating air magnet machine, Scrabble, and puzzle and slide in the swimming pool next time!!! Dunno when we can do it! 

Hope they all had fun! 

Decisions

Today I was in several discussions related to decisions making. 

Holing with whether she should change her placement. And Leanne, with whether she should change her major! 

I also have to make a decision on what I wanna do in the coming semester. Fun but difficult. 

 
a) Architecture and change of use
Basically - old buildings with new uses. Deals mainly with the design problems arising from making fundamental changes to the way a building is used. E.g. in redundant industrial, commercial or public structures. 
(pros) Have always been interested in these issues
(pros) the best professor
(cons) but she might be a more traditional professor
(cons) the description said - "will demand a high level of detailed design", totally freaked me out

(pros/cons) Most challenging - most of my classmates hate this field, as we did a similar project last semester. 

b) Designing a place for learning (primary school)
- Imagery/iconography of the type of building
- reading the site/ precedent studies. etc. etc.
- visiting primary school
(pros) in a way seems the easiest among the 3, but also less challenging
(pros) I do like things related to children/education
(pros/cons) Could be something that I (we) are more familiar with, and therefore not a good thing, as we will put in a lot of "personal views/experience", and end up having too much unfocused ideas. 

c) Reading Context
More related to the site, final project is to design a mixed use building incorporating several related functions including a new library for the town, a small exhibition space and a registrars office
(pros) I guess i am better in researching on a place etc. more than the actual designing bit, this project includes both
(pros) The Site is not in Edinburgh
(cons) The final project seems to be less focus, and could be more difficult
(cons) Dunno about the professor, just know he's young

Rent

Today, is a normal day - see dogs; met up with a LPC friend in Cyberport Starbucks, then we went to my home to swim together! (totally unexpected!) 

Went out for dinner..... 

 

Later on, they talked about stuff that's out of my planet. outsider. 

Going to leave HK very soon again, even though some ppl adviced me not to be unhappy as I am going to be back very soon, but it's difficult. Shall I hope that soon I won't miss this place and the people here? 

Just got the course description for the coming semester, don't know which to choose!

Macow

Japan trip part 2. | MaCOW| 

  Two days and one night in Macow passed by quickly! 

We spent most of our time in the hotel/casino. Went out for a walk, it was nice to see daylight, and enjoy the light breeze in the residential areas, except for I saw a big cockroach... eww

The view from the room was very nice and peaceful, our room was freezing as usual, but the afternoon sun shines warmly into the room. 

Night time at the casino was exciting. The atmosphere in different casinos that we have visited in the past few times were so different, I can't decide which one I like best. omg, deciding whether to bet or not or which to bet requires so much concentration! It's fun but also frustrating, as it IS actually unpredictable. I was said to have led a hand-full of people losing money by "looking" at their tables @.@ hahaha.... The Venetian is such a big building, with some long corridors that felt too long, strangely dim areas, and empty shops. But WELL, I guess the most important thing is that people are having fun in the gambling area! I like it when people are really loud. One more thing, i am not tall enough to see clearly.

Part one and Part two trip were both so great, I love all the time spent with you =)

Mooncake-making

Jaci, my four year old cousin, always asks "why...." recently, so much that it's so difficult to explain, and always continue to ask when the answer doesn't satisfies her.

 
Her parents spent a long time explaining to her about "seat belt" - she asked a lot about why some seat belt braces only around your tummy, but some across the shoulder; why they only exists on some minibus but not all, why not on buses, and why the ones on minibuses are different from the ones from taxis. In order to explain, my uncle had to do an experiment at home to explain the use of a seat belt - Jaci showed me today - she tied a doll onto a chair and pushed into the wall - and then did the same without tying the doll, to explain that the doll won't fall out with the seat belt @@

 

| In Wanchai Starbucks with WWS today, such a wonderful starbucks!!! |
She also asks a lot about why bridges won't collapse, how lifts are constructed, how ferries stops at the pier.... She needed to go to the Star Ferry Pier at TST to observe how they throw the rope over to tie the boat to the pier lol She felt really satisfied after that.

Two nights earlier - she had a nightmare and cried for an hour, because, she was really sad in her dream - her Philippine helper's mum just passed away (which is true), and Jaci wants to find her a new mother.

Wachifield Music Box

 

Wachifield, my beloved Wachifield! 

But most of their products are very nice, and also the character design is fascinating! This Music Box!!! Impressive music box! I noticed it in May! And Finally got to see it while I was in Japan!!! They were in both the Wachifield shops we went! But since it's so big and expensive i didn't end up buying it!!! .... sigh.. I didn't even get to hear the music of it, as it was placed so high

  
  

Japan* dreams come true!

I wanted to go to Japan for quite awhile, but when we decided to do so finally, I spent quite some time trying to remember why I wanted to do so! Before going, I was a bit worried because of that, haha, but the trip turns out to be really really fun and happy! Full of little surprises. And seven days wasn't too long at all. *heart*
  
   

I really like going to Japan, while I was there, I felt that "any dreams can come true" for a few times!(@.@) for really random reasons! Like being in Totoro Museum? Things falling down from the UFO machine? and other little impressive things! I loved the elegant name of Hibiya, and your cute name - Yurakucho.

In the past few days -
We learnt about different type of eggs, tactics of getting things from a UFO machine, watched more US news than ever. .I was impressed by the stars in Peter - and thought they represent a person's true love(s)!

Sushi in Shibuya was made more unforgettable with the long queues!! the cats and the cemetery matched perfectly lol, the hotel room iciness made up the hot sun! The Karuizawa Totoro shop and Wachifield shop made me very excited. We saw a really cute short movie in the Ghibli Museum.. The hotel room was so comfortable... I enjoyed all the time we chat together, it was about things so random that I couldn't remember what they were.

If I get to go to Japan again, I wish I could go to the 22*C town for the Totoro Shop, and actually buy something there! also get a better stamp from the station! Spend more time in the hotel (?) (esp to figure out the printer! and more bubble baths! etc!) But most important of all, I have to go back to the Ferris Wheel place and push ALL the boxes down from the UFO machine! (evil laugh) =)

Even though the trip was not all just perfect and happy, but at least, when thinking back, I feel like I enjoyed every moment, and once again realized how great it is to be with you.