Sketching St. Jo Cathedral

Ivy and her friends are writing a book about the St. Joseph's Cathedral in Kuching. They had the idea of using my line drawings for the chapter dividers. Always ready to contribute, I agreed but also suggested that they contact Urban Sketchers Kuching for additional sketches and illustrations.

This is a first sketch of the cathedral; its folded roof form is hard to capture and do justice to, its colour changing as it catches the sun.

run, swim, work

It was a rainy start to the day. But one that reminded me to be grateful for my health, my waterproof backpack and the relatively short 6km to work. And grateful that we are in Kuching, because this would have been quite impossible in KL, for example. I stopped over at the Sarawak Club for a short swim and shower, it was 7:15 a.m. when I started to walk the rest of the way to Carpenter Street for my morning coffee.

The advantage of getting the daily exercise out of the way in the morning is that you can concentrate on the other things at hand, such as work. The thing I enjoy most about my work is the drawing. Drawing takes several forms in our line of work - this is a detailed section through a temporary show unit for a condominium development. It is essentially a large steel structure with one of the units dressed up and fitted out for sales and display. We introduced a skylight to bring natural lighting deep into the building, and made all the steel connections de-mountable, so that we can re-use the building's structure elsewhere after one year.

Nanshan wedding

Qilin and Michelle met at university, I met them in Kuching when they trained as interns together with Sheng, Sueann and Ka Yee. They were Sam's original 'cicaks', so when they moved to Chongqing to be in Qilin's hometown - we promised to attend their wedding.

One day, Michelle wrote to me asking if we were available on the 18.11.18 - inviting us to their garden wedding in Nanshan. 

Michele is a bubbly and warm young lady, and  we were not surprised that her family and her friends whom we met for the first are also a personable lot. Wendy, her younger sister was the Emcee and shown here bent over in laughter. Many of these young people have only just met, having traveled from Shenzhen (from Qilin's former office), from Malaysia (friends from kindy through university) and former colleagues from Chongqing.

Remembering hotel rooms

Reminder to self - sketch the hotel rooms that I like so that I can refer to them in the future. And to take care to record their dimensions (estimated) and imagine their section, and construction.

Sarawak Heritage Society

This is a photo from several years back, when the Urban Sketchers Kuching participated in one of the SHS's events. That's my sketch of the General Post Office in the background.

More recently  I was added to a chat group - a collection of members and non members (I'm on this group) to share ideas and information regarding Sarawak's heritage.

I began by asking a question - does SHS have a list of the gazetted buildings in Sarawak? These are buildings protected by law in Malaysia because of their historical value. It is as simple as it sounds. It seems that this social club is still in the process of obtaining this list from the Museum. My thinking is that unless there is a baseline to work from, how can an organisation of concerned (and learned in many instances) citizens hope to conserve our built heritage.? There isn't a 'brief' to start with, and worse still none to built on - to continue the list of buildings to be placed under protection.

In the midst of the conversation, I was reminded that they are a non partisan, non profit organisation of volunteers. I have heard this phrase used before, using to account for shortfalls in their performance. '.. we are only volunteers, how much can we do?'

A lot, you can do a lot if you heart is in the right place. And I feel that if you want to carry a banner for conserving local heritage, you'll need to do more than just host events to run shoulders under the fuse of promoting awareness 

I have been invited to join this society before, one of their members wasted RM50 to purchase an enrolment form on my behalf  which I never signed or submitted. Many of their events are informative, about Sarawak's heritage; music, stories, art, fabric, and others.

But it falls short if one considers the number of learned and powerful people amongst its members.

Paris 2013

Windows

Canal Saint Martin

Place de la Republique

Sean

Sean has been working in the office for more than a year since his graduation for Part 1. Many friends think that he should have ventured farther to broaden his experience and be away from Mom and Dad. While this might be true, I think Sean can make up his own mind and make his own time about what he wants to do with his life.
In the meantime, I am just glad that he has chosen to spend time in Kuching with us - he is not the chattiest company for breakfast but he is the most generous with his lunch money. He is not the fastest CAD operator in the office but he is thoughtful and helpful with his colleagues and clients. He is not the quickest to respond to a request, but my coffee will always arrive in front of me; made just right. He is a dreamer first and a doer next - his Part 2 architecture education is our gift for him to dream.

taking stock again

Time to make another list.

Yesterday morning, I went for a run after not running for 2 weeks. I pulled a calf muscle playing squash. During my break from running, I swam and went to the gym. I hobbled around not feeling sorry for myself, instead I saw this as a reason to make some changes in my life. Not big changes, more like little adjustments and reminders to diversify my day.

I have been running and going to work, sometimes I run to work. There are other things I want to do, but I think that I do not have the time. I want to sketch, swim, cook, make furniture, run, plant vegetables, run, read more, play squash, paint, play tennis, travel, and run.

I will use this blog to keep track of myself.

I started by making a frittata dinner for the Lims.

COVE

Simple sketches will do.

This is an extension of an extension project which we have been working on for several years.
Here is a simple sketch sent to the client to highlight some thoughts about the site layout. 15 minutes to finish in my sketchbook, scan and email so that we have a record of this exchange.

A client wanted me to think about how rainwater can flow directly into the pond; its a fengshui challenge for her and an architectural one for me. Yes, architectural - it's simply part of the specific design brief which we have to find solutions for. We don't always find the answers, that's why we have to manage the client's expectations well. 

LH used my sketch to prepare this collage for A's easier reference. All done in the first half of the morning - I should draw more.

Attempting artistry on the ceiling

sara designs a wall

Doing Laundry

A yellow highlighter, a ball point pen and some correction fluid are adequate tools when inspiration strikes. This steel structure is for drying laundry with a translucent roof to protect against afternoon thunderstorms. It was long overdue, the builder's phone call reminders have become more terse. So it was a relief to issue these sketches for construction, and good therapy for a rainy afternoon.

Favourite place, favourite people

I shared this with Sher-lin who visited from Japan (her Spring Break). I told her that she has a legacy here; two foster children she brought to life here in Sarawak, and have left here for others to bring up.
This was one of her final projects with us; left for Sean to bring up with builder, Liew.

When I showed her this page (the back page of our local architect's newsletter is dedicated to the importance of details) - she told me that she liked the photo on the top left. I wonder if it is because her Japanese experience has left in impression, one that reminds me of the "engawa" or the open side verandah of a traditional Japanese house.

The nursery under construction

Weak Ties

Qilin, Sia, Michelle.

The strength of your weak ties - I heard this phrase online today.

It refers to a study which showed that people got their first jobs not through their 'strong' links such as their parents, spouse, friends, but via 'weaker' links. It suggests that there is greater potential for growth, by exploring the not-so-comfortable paths, rather than the habitual and predictable networks.

Coincidentally, we were talking about this phenomenon over breakfast with Michelle Vaz and Xie Qilin. They were (re) visiting Kuching from ChongQing - they talked about conducting workshops which put Bartlett students with local graduates. Using the unfamiliarity, language and cultural barriers to create stimulus and hopefully, fertile ground for ideas to cross-pollinate and friendships to form.

so, you don't want to be an architect?

In the past few days, I have heard several architect friends discouraging their children from studying architecture. I was quite surprised as these friends are successful practitioners - making good money (judging from the cars that they drive), and have had their projects published.

I am surprised and also a little disappointed. Architecture has been good to me (and my family). 

It hasn't been always easy, I still struggle to do a good job, and when I do - it is very rewarding. Perhaps, I am easier to please. (not comparing helps)