Lantern Hotel

a retrospective sketch of our dinner venue

We had difficulty deciding where to have dinner after attending a talk at the Woods Bagot Aged Care presentation. I suspect we were all (the 3 men) trying desperately to think of a venue nearby that is nice and comfortable for HL.  While we were shuffling our feet and not coming up with ideas - HL decided for us, she said '..I want to eat Hokkien Cha..'

Which explains the sketch above - next to a drain and in an alley near Petaling Street, the noodles were ok, the company good and the conversation better. And that's the important thing, isn't it?

'..the pork crackling on our noodles is collagen, not fat..'

view from my breakfast terrace at the Lantern Hotel

Later that night, I checked into the Lantern Hotel on Petaling Street. We heard that it has been extensively published, so decided to have a look-see. For a RM 100, the rooms are clean but small; the LWC walls are neat but thin; the support spaces innovative but the staff indifferent; the breakfast basic but the coffee Illy; the streets nearby lively but smelly.

my breakfast terrace - photo courtesy of Grace Teoh

the main atrium is lit from a sky-light

According to the architect, the emphasis on natural lighting and ventilation meant that all the 'public' and circulation spaces faced outwards, while the air-conditioned guestrooms face the internal courtyard. As a result, the rooms do not have an outside view. This was compensated by the 'public' spaces, with their cafe tables, and reading niches, very much like the busy street below.

Un paseo after lunch

lunch matinee - we were taking in the theatre taking place around us as much as the food.

Postcards from the Edge

Recently, Urban Sketchers Kuching took part in a postcard exchange with the Hong Kong Urban Sketchers - each of us are assigned a partner, mine is a Grace Tam. I hope she gets my postcard in one piece. I sent mine 'naked' just as how postcards are designed to be sent. Not in envelopes protected from view..

I sent Grace a scene from my work neighbourhood, a view from the Drunken Monkey Bar towards the river which I sketched one evening after work. Drinking beers with Claudia, George, Fiona and Sam.

Last week, a postcard arrived from Hong Kong. I am not certain if Grace has received mine.

Capturing the Essence

5 minutes, Saturday afternoon, in the shade, without glasses.

work in progress

A fellow architect dropped by the office one Saturday morning. Another senior practitioner, another one who has made a more than comfortable living from his trade. One who has stopped drawing perhaps, for he expressed surprise when he saw our drawing boards - 'wah, still draugthing ah?, who?, you ah?'

Actually, not all these are drawn at the draughting board. Some were drawn at home, on the coffee table in front of the telly. Others are details and ideas drawn on CAD printouts. I feel better after having made my mark on it. It is my way of assuring myself that I have vetted the drawing, it is ready to go. It is also a way of personalising computer generated drawings. The hand drawn lines say to the viewer - it's OK, someone put thought to my design. 

Chatter

Last Friday, I was invited to participate in the 3rd installment of PechaKucha Kuching; organised by local architectural firm, Integrated Design Consultants. 12 speakers share a special interest using 20 slides, at 20 seconds per slide - each 'chat'  lasts 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Not easy for a long winded architect - some would say...and they were right..(I missed having my slide clicker)

* PechaKucha is 'chitchat' or chatter in Japanese

I talked about my work with architecture students, designing and building the designs. Here are the 20 slides with their blurbs:

Heaven