18.2.2025 Tuesday - we have a school project but no fees

I spend the morning from 5:00 until 7:30 at home, and then from 8:00 until 11:00 designing and drawing up the floor plans for the school in Balai Karangan; a pro-bono project working with Toni and Craig. I show the plans to Leong and the others, Leong makes some comments and offer some suggestions - the others are too busy with their own deadlines to comment or look closely.  I will compile this with the 3Ds and send to Toni this week, it has taken too long. When I walk to work, I think about whether the young intern helped with this project or not, since I have to re-draw everything. I decide fairly quickly (by the time I took to walk from home to work) that she helped; in her explorations helped to congeal the structure, our discussions helped with the building sections (and later the 3D). And she will continue to help, after the scheme is packaged and sent off, she will continue to CAD my sketches for construction and submission drawings. 

17.2.2025 Monday - no gym early start.

 

They are lifting again, this time the cross trusses one storey high inside which the hotel rooms are placed.

A good start to the week, I know I will work especially hard this week because we are going away on Sunday. And I am worried about going away - so many thoughts fly through my mind before I fall asleep. I am being silly of course, I tell myself that and that I deserve the holiday. My colleague are taking my absence in their stride, making plans to attend important meeting for me - there is an important one where we have been shortlisted for a housing scheme. 

I pass my work to Jenny, and Sean, and Fiona, and Freddie - instead of sitting down to an office meeting, I sit down with individuals and go through their work.

changing the structural grid proved to be the solution for the re-sizing of the apartment units

16.2.2025 Sunday - too much sun

 

It was too early for some of us

I cycle to play tennis, because I have not used the bike for a while and also to loosen my achey hips. It seem to have warmed up my ankles which do not hurt too much during the one hour of hitting. Sam and I go for a laksa at a different place 'because we always go to the same place' - we visited Angel at her cafe on Bishopsgate, named after her son, George. 

rescued from the dead, now thriving happily in her little universe (our bedroom)

Sam introduced a reading programme for mom, it keeps her more alert towards the evening, and not so dopey (asking about people long dead and confusing us for her siblings)

SL is very kind, drives me to practice cover drives at the new Cricket Centre

New layout for Tasik Biru apartments 19x7 =  133 units

15.2.2025 Saturday - lazy day

MGM Spain

A short tennis session because R has difficulty breathing after a few rallies, he has very good strokes but is rather unfit. Sam and I have breakfast after which I return to nap (something I have not done for a long while) waking up only to eat lunch. I decide to eat less starting today - the exercise is great for cardio-vascular health but is doing nothing for weight loss. I just to put fewer things in my mouth, and return a vegetarian diet (with fish) and eat fruits and veg for lunch.

Late in the afternoon, I go to the office to see how Sean is doing. He is preparing his report for his professional exams, we work until quite late. I look at EL Croquis for inspiration for our current projects.

estudio gustavo utrabo

estudio gustavo utrabo

 

14.2. 2025 Friday - Pam is back

Early start because I want to draw out the problems and their solutions before speaking to Freddie at 8:30.

9:30 - Leong and I head off to Renna to review defects rectification; roofing, lobby light boxes, canopy cabling - it is a good visit. 

1130 - I visit Springvale site to see what Kenneth is worried about, not much but moving forward I can see that Sean will be get very busy. He drops me off at lunch with Sam, after which I go home for a Friday afternoon off - which I might do on a more regular basis starting NOW! 

..and we use it as an excuse for a dinner at No. 40. Pam is a good catalyst - Ivy Tan and her aunties and her children attend. Even my sister attends with Shing and Ashley - the first sit down dinner, and Shing gets a proper look at the house renovation. EH is chatty, making jokes with Pam about her upcoming trip to Scandinavia (he is very knowledgeable and I suspect that he wishes to visit these countries).

I have less of a good time; tired from work and too much sports (the early morning gym has an effect, I am just not aware of it till now). I mentally decide not to have any more dinners at No. 40 for the time being, still plenty to do there; the garden, the furniture, the books, the kitchen shelves, the gas hob, the passion fruit (where are the hooks Sean bought?). 

I thought that this diagram is important for better understand after speaking to TY on Wednesday so I update the presentation and re-send it to him

 

13.2.2025 Thursday - candid conversations

Today is one of those days when everything happens all at the same time, making me a little tense and anxious (but in a good way). AS wanted to chat so I go and listen to his concerns (which are getting fewer now) one of which is a cat who goes into the main lobby lounge to poo on the sofa. How to block off the vent block wall without resorting to the wire screen - I show him this photo and recommend artistically placing stones into the holes. Melvin thinks that the stones have to be mortared down or else the cat can move them aside. 

 830 a.m. - I sit down with PH's family for breakfast; I wanted to give my CASIO watch to one of the boys. It was Sean's birthday present for me a few years back - Oliver gladly accepted it. I see his mischievous side when we talked about him staying in Kuching during his school holidays. Fiona and Freddie come and sit for a while before we head off to Teck's meeting - I feel it important to do this once in a while, like the Mafia.

10:00 a.m. - good meeting with the client, things are going to site in April. We are given a new brief for the apartment; breaking the large units into smaller ones which are easier to sell. After the formal meeting, we have a good chat with the client who seems happy and candid in his conversations about future projects (not all ours). It is good that he can be candid with us, he knows we will offer an opinion, and that we can keep our mouths shut. 

3:30 p.m. - someone who should not keep his mouth shut is Sean who needs to communicate more, with colleagues, consultants, etc. In any case, things are cleared up - and we agree to meet more often.

12.2.2025 Wednesday - Chap Goh Meh

The 15th day of the Lunar New Year typically signaling the end of festivities, and families get together for a meal, usually dinner. I am the eldest, so I should organise a get-together but my heart is not in it. SO, Sam arranges to feed Louise at her place and we invite ourselves over with a selection of dishes Louise likes. 

Mom joins us and we see a glimpse of the social butterfly she was. 

 Today is Renna site meeting day - I get upset with the QS who routinely choose to pick at some matters (in a personal manner) rather than to solve problems and settle issues. We are 3 months away from completion, and she is picking on pedantic paperwork which should be settled outside these meetings. 

I leave earlier to see Sara and her team with SY - things are going well. Things are going well at the tennis courts as well, my arms is much better and I can hit out. I won 3-1 against Dr Kho.

11.2.2025 Tuesday - Balai

I take over the design development of the school in Balai Karangan - and am quite pleased with the outcome. The next thing to do is to complete the packaging and send it off to him with floor area calculations. 

Vedic Vidya Kendra Retreat Centre, Shanmugam Associates

 

10.2.2025 Monday - working for the man

He sends me other architects' proposals for a tall apartment building in the city centre and another for a museum near the Lake. I tell him the apartment does not work, he asks if it is because I don't like it. I explain over the phone that it is not about aesthetics but about function, site context and traffic circulation, layout plans - all the boring stuff we do to make sure things work. He gets it (although I feel that he understood it before he spoke to me; he was getting another opinion). I am careful not to overstep on my comments about other architects' work - and I don't. 

Our Monday morning meeting has one more person - the wayward girl joins. I delegate plenty of work and feel good about it - I invite Sam for lunch.

9.2.2025 Sunday - breakfast again.

Chop Chop at Saradise

Finally we are able to have breakfast again - although it does not start with me running to the venue. But never mind, it is nice to sit an silence and wait to be fed. This is a new place for us, which adds to the enjoyment, and the food is good though pricey. We meet Hilda from Hilda's House at Sunny Hill, we exchange phone numbers and she promised to call to give me work. (after I joked that my house clients have all given me new projects to work on).

For some reason, my ankle is aching without relief even after stretching, massage and warming up. I am hoping that the trip at the end of the month will cure it, without rest from tennis and squash.

8.2.2025 Saturday - two birthdays

We have not been to the Sias for a while, they have been busy and also with his health; they have been taking it easy. Mostly it is because we have aging parents and that takes a lot of time from us. Belinda is able to attend for one hour or so only as her has to return to care for her parents. Sarah tells me that her aunties are not helpful; with one of them being non functioning. 

We see this as our duty, to care for aging parents and those sibling who can do while do their part and those who don't or can't or won't - we should not spend time thinking about that. I can't say I recall any tender moments between me and my parents as I was growing up. My Aunty Josie looked to me with more pride than Mom or Pa.

Earlier in the morning, I meet with a wayward girl - daughter of a friend of my brother to discuss training opportunities in our office although she does not intend to do architecture. I say yes because I know her family, because she is an orphan, her parents died within one year of each other (he died in China, there were some rumours surrounding his death, told to me by who else?). She seems wayward, the type of woman who could get her way if she wanted, she seem keen to escape family bonds - her grandparents and her brother although they are not close anymore - 'my brother and I grew apart'. 

To conclude, I tell her to have a thought for her grandparents, that they had to do two sets of parenting; and when they thought they were finally free of their responsibilities - they had to do it all over again, this time in their seventies. 

7.2.2025 Friday - lunch and dinner provided

I start especially early today, not for work but to publish a project on the BA.J website. I am keen to retain the 7 a.m. deadline, so I don't let the team down. And I succeed. My cough has improved slightly and I hope to clear this before the trip to Australia. 

I get a text from TY saying that he has received our Block 3 submission. He continued to chat about defects, he is worried because of what has happened at another project of theirs. I reassure him , and quickly relay the message to PH and Leong, sharing a potential problem with my partners. 

This is the benefit of having a tier of partners working with me, I can delegate planning, action and thinking to them. 

PH is very excited about his chat with a potential hospital client, TH as usual puts in some brakes as a reality check. I think this is a good thing, and 4 years ago, PH would have been annoyed by this but nowadays PH would agree that this is a good balance in the work partnership.

Lunch is provided by Tay when I eat with Suan and HJ; funny stories and good food makes 90 minutes go by in a flash. Dinner is provided by PAMSC, who hosts a CNY Open House.  

 

6.2.2025 Thursday - a good day overall

I send out the proposal for Block 3, this has been delayed by some weeks because I have not found time to refine it. But the delay turns out to be useful; we now have a 1:20 vehicular ramp which doubles as a exercise route through the apartment complex. We also have 'landed' luxury units next to the river, which I discover is Sungai Sarawak (and not a tributary). We settled the fire fighting access and was able to have dedicated facilities block and club house. Most importantly, we developed an interesting undulating facade created by adjusting the balconies' profiles. 

We have lunch with Yale, he is keen to chat about 'what to do in the next three years' - Sam gives him sound advice 'be generous when you plan to court a woman'. 

Sean's latest plans for Toorak House is accepted by the owner and our ID scheme for the hotel was largely accepted. We have to re-do the rooms; our scheme is too soju and gin while the client was looking more for whisky and cigars.

Later that evening, squash goes well playing many games with my sore arm. It is getting better but I think tennis is still out of reach. I think Kok is starting to fall along the wayside, his fitness and mobility is the problem. I can sense that he is getting frustrated mid-way through the games - I can't help but feel a wicked twitch of satisfaction.

5.5.2025 Wednesday - free lunch

This person popped out of the blue with a text. I recall that she was very well organised and good to work with when we published in AM. But she tells me that she has left MEMO, and is now free lancing. I ask if we can think of a way to work together, and I share the BA.J website info with her. I can't recall if we have met in person, but from the texts she seems like a warm and genuine person. 

4.2.2025 Tuesday - coming down with something

It is always good to chat with PH and Freddie, because they are 'off-site' we catch up to update each other on the latest updates and things to do, and who to do them. This morning, I am a little late because I spend an hour catching up with Yale; talking about future plans, to return to work with dad or be his own man. I tell him that the main deciding factor is his own woman, and wherever he might find her. Yale agrees. I have time for him, we talk about how we practice as a firm, it seems that folks outside are curious. They wonder how I deal with working with Sean (I don't, Freddie deals with Sean) and how we deal with money (very openly, folks get a fee share) and how we deal with people, they seem to stay with us for the long term (Sam plays a big role). 

Freddie and I plan the week, see Teck next Thursday, meet our own ppl this Thursday to finalise the planning set for Springvale, we sort out Au's chalets, Ricco to update for next week. I mention that we want to do the Sime Darby one, and will use Melvin with PH's help. All ticking along nicely.

I ring PH and wonder aloud why AS is being such as ASS - all of the above says PH; AS wants me to deal with his problems with buyers instead of settling them himself, and is being a little helpless when ppl confront him. We also talk about BLOCK 3, he prefers the 'quieter' facade treatment - I bring it to the team who voted for the flamboyant one. I ll proceed to finish this by Wednesday and send off. 

I am coming down with something; feeling a little cold and sniffly. Squash still hampered a bit by sore forearm/elbow. Luckily legs are able to make up for it, Kok, Samuel, Daphne, Catherine.
 

3.2.2025 Monday - first day back at work, and a hot breakfast for everyone

 ..and ang-pows as well. Followed by our Monday morning meeting, our numbers grown due to Milan (first day) and Ryan (back from Uni) together with Clarissa and Roosh, and Ricco. George and PH zoom-ed in from KL - all is well. 

Later in the morning, I meet with Leon Lo who used to work with Freddo -  we chat in the office, (and discover that he is class-mates with Calvin), and continue downstairs over coffee.  He is 28 but with dreams about making an impact later in life, about leaving a legacy and such a polite and sincere young person. I would like to keep in touch with him. Lunch time, I catch up with Andy Wong who visits from Brisbane via Prague and Germany, Grace and Alvin join him for lunch. It is always good to speak to Grace, her sly sense of humour and pretty smile. She compliments me for my improved Mandarin (it has been 15 years!) - 'you used to reply in English or Hokkien even though I spoke to you in Mandarin, now we can have short conversations completely in Mandarin'. A highlight of my day.

After this breakfast, we decided that we will take turns and cook breakfast for each other on the first Monday of each month.

Another highlight of the day - Tabuan Desa is revived! as a residential development - another project to work on. We prepare a proposal several months ago - now Melvin will take over with Ricco to assist.

2.2.2025 Sunday - mom's the word

All quiet amid the tension. Mom has been staying with us since Ni's family vacation - it seems like life as usual but there are many differences. We can't go out for an early Sunday breakfast after my long run, we sleep with our bedroom door open in case mom calls out, Sam has to deal with her ablutions and prepare her meals, and answer her many questions, and take her instructions (something Mom developed this stay-over)*.

I work in the office, all quiet except for the cat. And later, news that Ee Pang's second daughter did away with herself and her 3-month old baby. They suspect post-partum blues. One must not judge but looking at a recent photo of Pang's family - he looks lost and distracted, a little pudgy and ill at ease as though life caught up with him and passed him by. 

My forearm is not 100 % but squash is a good release after a day at work.

1.2.2025 Saturday 2025

This year as usual, we host a breakfast for the office folks and at the same time time invite friends over for food and drinks. Sam baked her now-famous focaccia and I cook my version of Shatsuka which went down a treat. 

Highlights are visits from Yvonne from Singapore, and Vivian, and Louis (both of them) and also Rachel whom we see in the photo (Bubbles preparing the bubbly). As much as I enjoy seeing friends or former colleagues who fly in and visit, I wonder how much longer this would last. I sense that they are already drifting away; into new lives, and new careers and although I am happy for them, I am also sad. It is still good that our lives are better because our paths crossed along the journey.

 

31.1.2025 Friday - new shelves to build

We decide to build these out of plywood, for easier assembly. 12mm thick instead of 19mm since they are only short lengths