APPLETASTIC

1. The office is usually quiet on a Friday night, despite the unmistakable (and sometimes intolerable) karaoke voices drifting in from across the road as we are located along a district where night entertainment is prevalent. A huge rectangular clock was delivered that afternoon that announces time without numbers; “it’s nearly ten” it read, then the few of us were just sitting around with a couple of beers in hand and exchanging (embarrassing) funny stories from the past.

2. Reminds me of the time the girls went to the weekend flea market at Scape, then this other time I shopped in Vienna for the flower ring made of leather and discoloured metal. They’re beautiful.

3. Just like this pair of newly bought flats. The old fashioned floor tiles belong in our office too.

How do I begin? Well, -

I own everything in this illustration except for the face, haha. There’s my new hairstyle, new dress, and the Zenit-E – a Russian made camera – which I found while wandering like a lost child in the quaint antique shop at the corner of the street in Prague. Not exactly new, in fact it’s the opposite, but I can say that film shall be something new for me to explore and unravel.

And I wonder why is it that this piece was a breeze when the other WIP on a emotive portrait of Sho from TQS, even with some major references, I’ve been retouching for the umpteenth time has never worked itself out. So I concluded, looking at some old artwork, that it might be easier to conjure up some random face than imagining a particular one and willing my drawing to turn out exactly like it. Probably since it isn’t a direct copy of a certain reference image (like observational sketching), I tend to keep comparing whatever I have, but doing so only leaves me unsatisfied because it’s so hard to hit the mark. The blame goes to none other than my inadequate knowledge of anatomy, lighting, perspective and stuff.

Just for the record, there are five(5) WIP files sitting on my desktop which I think I will never finish. Not in the next quarter most likely.

Anyhow, details -

The long weekend is almost over and I stole some time off to draw, despite the nagging reminder that I should have been doing work just so it would alleviate, if anything much, the load I foresee in the coming week. Weeks and months have flurried by without much of a break in between; there’s not really enough time to go by anymore, but thankfully money has never been of any issue, haha.

Due to the current situation, for the whole of this month I didn’t go out (weekends too) which means being able to cut what’s normal of my monthly expenditure by maybe 70%, but weirdly enough, I managed to save quite a considerable amount, yet I CAB TO WORK EVERYDAY WTF. Don’t know how it ended up this way since a month and a half ago. This is. Downright. Decadence.

You know, I ought to put an end to it. Ugh.

We are now at 316 Joo Chiat Road.
Here’s my new happy place :)

( Don’t you think the new office is beautiful? )

For F&N Christmas 2010.

Send an interactive e-card to your family and friends; customize the colour scheme and shake the drink can to make it snow :)

Circumstances have sort of confined me in bed for a large part of today – not unlike other mellow Saturdays – for I couldn’t step out or even sit up for long moments without being subjected to a terrible throbbing in my head. Yes I’m running a fever, rare because I hardly do, a mood damper when we were all suppose to be in town for delectable ramen today. That makes me look forward to our usual supper meetings on Wednesdays instead, when the boys are out of camp.

How has October been treating you so far? While a lot of people have quoted the line “Wake me up when September ends”, I found Sept to be quite an eventful month; a fair mixture of ups and downs throughout the past weeks. For one, our company attended the CCA’s GONG Show and Shang-ri La (the same place for the Crowbar Awards show, and also where I celebrated my 21st) where Kinetic won big in the Design Category, where Gian was named New Art Director, as well as the only Design Gong award that went to Pann’s ‘Soundtrack for a Book’.

Following this formal event, was Gen’s non-traditional wedding at Sentosa’s Amara Sanctuary Resort on a Saturday, which was featured in Chnl U’s ‘Wedding 101‘. By non-traditional I mean everything from the black and white theme, the simplicity of the invitation and carefully chosen/handmade decors, her beautiful unmistakably Japanese-styled beige dress and black baby doll evening gown, to the quiet photographic projections on the screens and layout of the ballroom. I must say it was most unforgettable.

Hasn’t time flown? It has been nearly 5 months since I started work, and having more or less gotten into the momentum, I don’t end up dreading waking up early anymore. Not that much. One more month till the end of probation and four more months to the annual company trip! Hopefully by that time I’d be geared up for a harsh winter in Europe :)

Currently in the works is the first full flash website project I’ve been assigned to, which spells lots of stress even in its proposal stage. Also, the other day we received a new brief to redesign a certain board game and to our delight we had a good two hours of fun in the conference room having lunch and teaming up to play against one another just to derive some form of inspiration.

Aside from work, there was the mini gathering at Hajar’s for Hari Raya: (photo by Charissa)

after which we had ramen and OUAM, and spotted this huge chow chow – well I can’t say being walked, more like being paraded through town – in a pram complete with two clip-on fans by a domestic helper while the owners strutted around like they’re so used to the commotion caused by photo-snapping passerby. Oh the rich. And the cute:

One cafe we have been frequenting would be the Dessert Factory at Bugis; it’s a five min walk away from the mrt, in the building along the entire stretch of steamboat restaurants. They’re relying mostly on word-of-mouth plus online publicity, and since they serve genuinely good milk tea and desserts – cupcakes, brownie with ice-cream and bread pudding – of all I had tasted I found nothing to my dislike, I think they deserve a mention here.

(photo by Charissa)

Although the branding and illustration style irks us all (oh how reminiscent of blah blah blah), the place is small, cosy and a great hangout nonetheless. Ask about the story behind their specially concocted milk tea; which I’m sure the friendly waiter will be more than glad to relay.

Since my last drawing, I’ve started quite a few more, adding on to those that I haven’t gotten enough time or motivation to complete yet. This is quite a bad habit isn’t it, starting things and not finishing. Just like how I never finish learning Mahler’s piano quartet piece. But I tell you that’s rather impossible for me haha. And just like how I never finish some books I’m suppose to have read and returned to people, my goodness.

And so I’m lying against the headboard typing this at 5 in the morning.. I think my fever’s subsided significantly.