Summary of my working holiday in New Zealand from June to December 2022.

I have returned to Malaysia yesterday after having spent over 7 months for working holiday in New Zealand and subsequent trips in Australia. Time flies. I have been away from home and career for a long time and soon it’s time for me to resume my normal daily life of working in Singapore (or in short; time to get back to reality!). I still have one pending trip to go which is a guided trip of a week to Hokkaido, Japan during the upcoming Chinese New Year holiday with my parents. Then when February arrives, it’s time to head back to Singapore to resume the working life I have paused since May 2022.

Here’s the summary of my working holiday in New Zealand (traditionally referred as Aotearoa) from June to December 2022. I had the trip with a close friend which is certainly a good decision to help for cost sharing, switching driving task, taking portrait pictures, and assistance on some areas when needed.

Warning: Long post ahead! Haha…

— Work at The Remarkables —

We first stayed in Queenstown from June to October (4 months) and worked at The Remarkables ski mountain as food and beverage service attendant. Although with low hourly pay, but we got to enjoy benefits such as free lift pass to ski/snowboard, free group lessons, discount on items, free staff transport, etc. However, the number of hours you will be able to work per week aren’t much compared to other professions except for peak period such as during school holidays or special events. Sometimes, adverse weather do prevent the ski mountain from operating and hence we will have no work (with only 2 hours salary) for the day. The staff transport isn’t good too as I recalled for having to wait very long for buses to pick us up to and from the mountain. I do not mind the occasional busy periods during the season but I do admit that I’m quite disturbed by some of my colleagues who weren’t cooperative or working as hard as I do.

The greatest thing of working there for me would be the environment; very lovely indoor setting with beautiful view of snowy landscape and people playing ski or snowboard right outside the windows. I also manage to learn to ski during my off days (went to ski about two to three times a month) although in the end, I’m still pretty much just at the beginner’s level. But that’s fine. So, that’s pretty much sum up the good and ‘not so good’ things about working at the ski mountain from my experience.

— Stay in Queenstown during work —

During early October, we did fly over to Christchurch for a short trip and visited several places mostly in the city. While we were in Queenstown in those 4 months, we did bought a used car for less than NZD4000 (just a small Ford Fiesta car sufficient for the two of us, our luggage and stuff), visited multiple places (Arrowtown, Wanaka, Milford Sound, Glenorchy, St Bathans, Cromwell, Alexandra) and done some popular walking tracks as well.

I almost forgot to mention that we were really very lucky to have found an accommodation in Queenstown even before we arrived in the town as Queenstown is very famous for serious lack of long term accommodations. Queenstown itself is extremely beautiful though and is often regarded as the adventure capital of New Zealand.

— Road trip after work! —

Once the winter concluded and it’s spring by mid of October, the ski mountain closed and we then got on a full-time road trip mode. Our 65 days long road trip started on 18th October 2022 with our first stop being at Invercargill. Here below are the main stops of our road trip in order:

Before road trip (based in Queenstown for 4 months for work):

Queenstown — Christchurch — Queenstown

During road trip (65 days):

South Island

Queenstown — Invercargill — Dunedin — Oamaru — Timaru — Lake Tekapo — Mount Cook — Twizel — Wanaka — Haast — Franz Josef — Hokitika — Greymouth — Westport — Nelson — Kaiteriteri — Takaka — Picton —

North Island

Wellington — New Plymouth — National Park — Taupo — Rotorua — Tauranga — Hamilton — Hahei — Coromandel — Auckland — Paihia — Whangarei — Gisborne — Napier — Masterton — Wellington —

South Island

Kaikoura — Christchurch

As seen above, we first travelled across South Island before heading to North Island by ferry crossing over the Cook Strait. We then travelled across the North Island before coming back to the South Island to explore the remainder of the latter and flying off from Christchurch. In total, we have driven over 11 000 kilometres. We allocated additional few more leisure days in Christchurch for us to sort out our stuff before leaving the country such as selling our car, final packing of our baggage, etc. We roughly spent about half of the 65 days at South Island and half at North Island. Pretty balanced. We did had a one-week getaway to Melbourne, Australia during our road trip hence our road trip only concludes on 28th December 2022. We then flown over to Sydney on 29th December 2023 and later to Perth on early January 2023 for our travel in Australia.

— Itinerary —

If you are keen to do a long road trip across New Zealand and are interested to view our detailed itinerary for your reference, please feel free to download from below link. We planned our itinerary around two months in advance, then made booking for accommodation through Agoda (chosen all the places that offer time-limited free cancellation), and purchased several admission tickets to several popular attractions in advance (such as The Hobbiton Movie Set Tour, Waitomo Glowworm Cave, etc).

new-zealand-road-trip-itineraryreferenceDownload

Our itinerary may help on your research on where to travel, how much it roughly costs, and how far we have driven. We tried to limit on the places that require high admission fees and we mostly filled our activities that come with no charges such as doing walking tracks (walking tracks are the ones that are going to reward you with breathtaking scenic views and good exercise…haha…and we had done over 50 walking tracks in total).

We didn’t do any attractions that emphasize on traditional Maori people or culture, didn’t visit any wineries (which New Zealand has a lot) because we are not into wines or alcohols, didn’t do much adventurous or thrilling activities mostly due to cost as highlighted earlier. I would recommend to allow for a break day occasionally for you to rest (it’s actually quite tiring to keep on travelling too!). This also helps on a little flexibility on rearranging some attractions/places to visit due to weather condition or road closure.

— Budget —

By the way, we always kept our limited budget in mind when planning these previously. We stayed in mostly backpacker accommodations or cabin at holiday parks (had private bedroom but with shared bathroom; with this we can put our stuff securely in our room and not needing to sleep with strangers in a same tiny room). We set our budget so that our single-day accommodation for one person does not exceed NZD50 and single-day meals for one person does not exceed NZD40. We also have to set aside an amount for emergency use, car servicing or maintenance, car petrol, mobile bills, occasional grocery shopping and other expenses such as parking fees. These were all estimated and tabulated in our detailed itinerary.

— The usually poor weather! —

We had our road trip from spring to early summer. There were a lot of rainy days during our road trip as I recalled (almost 6 out of 10 days are rainy days!) unfortunately. On some occasions where we couldn’t rearrange our itinerary that much (due to time constraint, accommodation’s booking already beyond free-cancellation period, continuous days of bad weather or other reasons) we continued on but had to cancel or cut short on some places. A waterproof jacket or raincoat is a must. The rainy days do quite affect our trip! They affect the quality of the views and pictures we took at several places too under poor weather condition.

— The 4 seasons in New Zealand —

I was quite shocked of hoe the 4 seasons turn out in New Zealand. During winter, sun rises at about 8am and sunset is about 5pm. During summer, sun rises as early as 5am and sunset is over 9pm with the sky still quite bright even at 10pm. What an experience going through this! And I thought summer in any country would be hot. It’s not the case in New Zealand. The highest temperature I have experienced during summer was only about 24 degree celsius (that’s still consider cold to me especially with wind). Hence, I wear jacket most of the time including during the summer season. There is also this daylight saving time system adopted in New Zealand (heard about it previously and this was first time experience…oh no; my one hour was robbed! Haha).

— The food and the people —

I don’t really fancy Western food and hence when I’m in New Zealand, it was quite tough for me. There aren’t many Asian population in the country and it’s quite hard to find Asian food especially when we were in small towns. There isn’t many choices for Western food either. In summary, not much dining options across the country unless you are in big cities like Auckland and Wellington. Nothing to shout out for for their food in general too. That’s my personal opinion…sorry to the Kiwis if they are seeing this. The locals (called the Kiwis) are very friendly and welcoming though. Didn’t have any major issue communicating with them and no racism felt at all.

Having meals outside are also super expensive in New Zealand. Hence, during our stay in Queenstown, we mostly cooked at home for cost saving.

— The things out of our control and things we missed out —

No things are perfect including our trip. At first, we were only granted a 6-months long working holiday visa. After our work during the winter season, we only had less than 2 months for our road trip. That would be insufficient to cover all the places we would like to visit in New Zealand. Hence, we purposely flown over to Australia (went to Melbourne) for a one-week vacation on early December 2022 (when our working holiday visa expire) and come back to New Zealand under tourist visa. After we had bought our flight tickets, New Zealand government announced extension of another 6 months to our visa. Hmm…if that was announced earlier, we could have do the road trip all at once and avoid the trouble of flying out and in back.

We also had occasional issues with our car especially one major one right before our road trip commenced that made us panicked as it may affect our plan and above all, our safety. Fortunately, we were able to resolve that but with huge sum of money in the end. It’s also very hard to find mechanics that will attend to you directly and you have to make booking many days in advance even if it is not during peak period.

What we missed out during our trip in New Zealand is the chance to view the magnificent Southern Lights (Aurora Australis). It’s one of our wishes to see this while we were in New Zealand. There was a day when there was high activity recorded (we downloaded an app that track the aurora). We went out and up to the mountain to try to see it but as it was very cloudy, we didn’t get to see anything in the end.

We can said that we have travelled across about 85% of the whole country of New Zealand. There are still some places that we didn’t get to visit such as the Stewart Island, the entire area north of Gisborne at North Island, and several small towns. Anyway, at least we got to see most of New Zealand including the very rare kiwi bird in one of the wildlife parks.

— My Most Favourites? —

North or South Island?

My preference is North Island because of the more variety of different type of landscapes you can see at the North Island (I’m particularly fascinated by the unique geothermal places and surreal volcanic landscapes at the North Island while South Island doesn’t have these). South Island is filled with plenty of beautiful mountains, lakes and rivers though but they all looked pretty much similar after you have seen the first few of them. It’s also more convenient to find food, accommodation or other stuff at North Island as this island is way more populous than South Island. There are at least several major cities at North Island and there is only one major city (Christchurch) in South Island.

National Park?

Definitely Tongariro National Park (surreal volcanic landscape as mentioned earlier over here and the 8-hours hike over the Tongariro Alpine Crossing was very memorable with unbelievable views!). Mount Cook National Park comes in close second for its beautiful snow-capped mountains, glaciers and valleys. Egmont National Park is my pick for third place due to its spectacular Mount Taranaki. Mount Aspiring National Park and Arthur’s Pass National Park are worthy of a mention here too.

Waterfall?

There are a lot of waterfalls in New Zealand but I find that none of them that I have seen truly amazes me. They are not particularly large too. My top 5 picks in no particular order are The Devil’s Punchbowl Falls, Waipunga Falls, Rainbow Falls, Taranaki Falls, and Thunder Creek Falls.

Museum?

1 – Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington. 2 – Auckland War Memorial Museum, Auckland. 3 – Air Force Museum, Christchurch.

Art Gallery?

1 – Steampunk HQ, Oamaru. 2 – Auckland Art Gallery and Christchurch Art Gallery (tie). 3 – Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth.

Gardens?

1 – Hamilton Gardens. 2 – Christchurch Botanical Gardens. 3 – Whangarei Quarry Gardens.

Rock formation?

1 – Punakaiki Pancake Rocks and Blowholes. 2 – Archway Islands and Cathedral Cove (tie). 3 – Putangirua Pinnacles Scenic Reserve and Split Apple Rock (tie).

Lake?

1 – Lake Tekapo. 2 – Lake Wanaka (and don’t forget the famous Wanaka tree). 3 – Lake Wakatipu and Lake Pukaki (tie).

Waterfront?

1 – Auckland Waterfront. 2 – Wellington Waterfront. 3 – New Plymouth Coastal Walkway.

Wildlife attraction?

1 – Whale Watch Kaikoura cruise. 2 – Willowbank Wildlife Reserve, Christchurch. 3 – Hole in the Rock dolphin cruise, Bay of Islands.

City?

1 – Auckland. 2 – Christchurch. 3 – Wellington.

Geothermal attraction?

1 – Wai-O-Tapu Thermal Wonderland. 2 – Craters of the Moon. 3 – Kuirau Park.

Thrilling paid activity?

1 – Kayaking at Whenuakura Island. 2 – Skiing at The Remarkables. 3 – Sandboarding at Te Paki Giant Sand Dunes.

Beach?

1 – Cathedral Cove Beach. 2 – Kaiteriteri Beach. 3 – Wharariki Beach and Hot Water Beach. (tie)

Cave?

1 – Ruakuri Cave. 2 – Waitomo Glowworm Cave. 3 – Ngarua Cave.

River, Spring or Gorge?

1 – Hokitika Gorge. 2 – Te Waikoropupu Springs. 3 – Waikato River (mostly due to the Huka Falls) and Waihou River (Blue Spring Putaruru). (tie)

Lighthouse?

1 – Cape Reinga Lighthouse. 2 – Castlepoint Lighthouse. 3 – Cape Palliser Lighthouse.

Cruise?

1 – Milford Sound cruise. 2 – Whale watching cruise at Kaikoura. 3 – Hole in the Rock dolphin cruise at Bay of Islands.

Historical street/city architecture?

1 – Dunedin. 2 – Nelson. 3 – Napier.

Overall View?

1 – Tongariro National Park (particularly from the Tongariro Alpine Crossing).

2 – Mount Taranaki from the Reflective Tarn.

3 – Milford Sound (from cruise and from the road journey getting into Milford Sound from Te Anau).

4 – Mount Cook from Hooker Valley track.

5 – Wanaka from Roy’s Peak.

6 – Bay of Islands from Urupukapuka Island (reached from a cruise).

7 – Queenstown from Queenstown Hill.

8 – Great Coast Road on the West Coast in South Island.

9 – Cape Palliser scenery including along the Cape Palliser road.

10 – Auckland city skyline from Cyril Bassett VC Lookout.

That’s all for the summary of my working holiday in New Zealand on second half of last year. I certainly had an unforgettable and wonderful experience during my stay and road trip over on that beautiful country. You can literally find beautiful scenic views from anywhere in the country easily. The natural landscapes at New Zealand are hard to beat when compared to other countries I have visited in the past.

I joined a Facebook group called ‘New Zealand Travel Tips (NZTT)’ and it is quite a useful page to ask questions, search for information or latest travel updates and even get discounts on certain attractions. If you are planning to visit New Zealand and have some questions, feel free to drop me a message too. And last but not least, thank you if you have read all the way to this point.

Its a long weekend, thanks to the Polling Day yesterday.

Yesterday was the Polling Day for Singapore. All Singaporeans head out to vote for their choice of government for the next five years yesterday. As expected, the ruling party, People’s Action Party (PAP) won and Lee Hsien Loong will continue to be the Prime Minister (it would be his last stint as Prime Minister…he has been holding on to this position for 16 years now). Out of 93 seats contested in the Parliament, PAP won 83 while the remaining 10 were won by the main opposition party, Worker’s Party (WP).

Although I am not a Singaporean, but I do pay a little bit of attention to this election. It was a long day yesterday as the voting period was extended to 10pm. Early results only came in after 12am and the final official results were only revealed when clock almost strikes 4am. I was already asleep that time but was woken up by my landlord (staying in next room) who I believed raised up his phone volume to the highest to listen to the latest election results.

Singapore’s general election is not as exciting as the one in Malaysia. PAP never lost and ends every elections with big wins with very little competition by the opposition parties. While for Malaysia, it is more of a neck-to-neck battle between the opposition and the government that will get us anxious and eagerly watching closely for the election’s outcome.

PAP won with a clear mandate as usual but there is an obvious sign of increasing support to the WP. PAP’s overall popularity vote also dropped from 69.86% to 61.24% which is the lowest since 2011 general election. I also noticed that PAP only won slightly above 50% in many of the constituencies as the opposition had shown a stronger showing by gaining above 40%. The increase of support for the opposition signifies that PAP cannot be too comfortable from now on and that many Singaporeans may have not approve to the way the government handled issues especially the most recent Covid-19 matters. Some also criticized the move to hold the election at this time now during the pandemic which is quite unsafe although the deadline to do so hasn’t come yet.

On the other hand, I also think that there were too many opposition parties here in Singapore. Acting alone will not lead you to anywhere. It would be more effective if all opposition parties joined forces (just like in Malaysia) to give a stronger fight as one.

Okay…enough of me talking about the politics of Singapore. It’s not even my country (I was just residing here for work). It’s just me sharing a bit of my view on the election; a perspective from an outsider.

I took the opportunity to enjoy this 3-day long weekend break which is rare. Unfortunately, the borders have not been opened yet. If not, I would have seize the chance to return to my home at KL for a slightly longer stay or took a short trip to other parts of Malaysia. All that is not possible, thanks to the present Covid-19 pandemic. It’s still on-going after over half a year. That’s frustrating.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

Thank you, Lee Chong Wei!

Lee Chong Wei; a name that no Malaysians will not know and a name that has made a huge impact to the badminton world for over 19 years. A three-time Olympic silver medalist, Datuk Lee Chong Wei is truly a badminton legend and an inspiring Malaysian hero!

After diagnosed with nose cancer since last year, he has no choice but to stop his badminton career to focus on the cancer treatment at Taiwan ever since. The news shocked the whole Malaysia and we pray nothing but the best of health for this man. After confirmation of his recovery, he returned to the court but has been advised of not to undergo anymore intense training to avoid the relapse of cancer. Today, he decided to retire officially and we wish him all the best!

His achievement is nothing short of breathtaking. Although he has failed in three past attempts to win Malaysia’s first ever Olympic gold medal, but he never gives up. Winning 3 Olympic silver medals in a row, he is the most successful Olympian in Malaysian history. Although always losing in several crucial final matches (I always find that luck is always not on his side), but he is the one that unite all Malaysians through sport. People of all races gather together at mamak stall in the evening to catch his action live on huge television. Crowd cheering when he win points or hearing your neighbours scream when he won are some of the memories I had in the past (I’m sure you experienced those time too). Only Lee Chong Wei has the ability to do that.

He do wish to compete in next year’s Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (will be his fourth attempt) but health shall comes first nevertheless. It’s okay, Chong Wei! You have tried your best and you have already made Malaysians proud! You have done enough and it’s best for you now to spend more quality time with your family and friends.

His achievement is not just limited to the Olympics. He has won a total of 69 badminton titles including a record-breaking 12 wins at the Malaysian Open. He is also a three-time Commonwealth Games gold medalist, and a four-time All England champion. He is also the king of BWF (Badminton World Federation) World Superseries with 47 titles. He held on to the position as world no.1 men single player for 6 years consecutively (from 2008 to 2013). Impressive, isn’t it? His career is so amazing that it has even been turned into an autobiography (book titled ‘Dare to be a Champion’) and a 2018 movie with his name as the movie’s title.

Thank you, Datuk Lee Chong Wei for all the contribution, inspiration and great memories you have given to us. Your superb plays on the badminton court in the past will be missed! It’s time now for the youngsters to step up the game to be back at the world stage in badminton.

(Images in this post are from various online sources)

 

Week ends with a long wait to a studio’s presentation and ‘The Conjuring 2’ movie after that.

Today was the last session for my urban design studio class this semester before submission of portfolio next week. And we have to present verbally on our final detailed masterplan boards today to our lecturers for grading. Fortunately, everything went well and smooth for me, but I have to wait for over 7 hours until my turn to present. That was certainly a long wait as I do came early to pin up my works and I was already getting cold, nervous and tiring at the same time. My presentation went quick and well to my satisfaction and hopefully to my lecturers’ satisfactions as well. A quick look of where I have been stuck in for most of the day today in my campus’ architecture building waiting for my 10-minutes presentation:

After that, it’s time to relax myself after a stressful time of waiting and preparing to present the works and me and my classmates decided to watch the latest horror movie on the cinema right now; ‘The Conjuring 2’. I seldom watch horror movies right in the theatres because I’m a bit afraid and I’m not usually very attracted to this genre of movies. However, I like the first movie ‘The Conjuring’ and I do hear some early positive reviews about this sequel, and so I decided to watch it in cinema as soon as we finished presenting. It’s also good to support this particular movie as it is directed by a Malaysian-born director, James Wan (whom is now an Australian living in Perth, the same city I’m in now for my study).

Now, let’s talk about the movie. Eventhough it is not as good as the first one (as expected), but this sequel is still a great one to watch. Usually a sequel will be much worst compared to its predecessors but that is not the case for this one. James Wan still delivered on creating another effective horror movie based on the paranormal cases investigated by Ed and Loraine Warren in the past. This one is actually nears the quality for the first one and it is still an excellent movie. What’s interesting to this franchise is that its films didn’t only contain the horror elements, but also successfully engages us into the characters and their relationships and struggles with the demons or spirits in the movies, also enhanced with brilliant acting by the cast.

I like the cast especially Vera Farmiga whom portrayed Loraine Warren. The young girl that get possessed in this movie also did a very good job. They are all generally being very immersed into their roles and make this story enjoyable (actually horrifying) to watch. This movie also delivered on several very effective jump scares. Its early trailers had revealed some of them but it has a bit more to that. I do freak out in certain unexpected scenes. The demon in the form of a nun in this movie is really very creepy and the image still sticks in my mind right now. She looks extremely scary. The story development also went through well and I do like the beginning part more that focuses on the children experiencing strange happenings in their house. The ending is a bit too rushed and illogical but is still fine and climatic-reaching. Overall, this movie is certainly a wonderful and an excellent piece of horror movie and it has the similar strengths and tactics like the first one (except it uses a bit more CGI for this sequel). I would rate ‘The Conjuring 2’ a total of 8.0. I rate the first movie 8.0 too in the past (three years ago) but now, I would like increase that to 8.1. So, this sequel is only like 0.1 point behind. So you see, this one is really good too.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

5 Malaysian architecture and design projects competing in the currently running World Architecture Festival 2015

The annual World Architecture Festival is returning back this year as it is currently running from November 4th to 6th 2015 in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. It is a global event that gathers architects and professionals related to the field from across the world for many beneficial functions like seminars, talks, debates, etc. One of the major highlights of the festival is the awards selection for buildings of the year in various categories in competition. There are 5 Malaysian works being selected as finalists for the awards selection of this year’s World Architecture Festival. Eventhough architecture scene in Malaysia is still not very good compared to many other countries, but I’m glad that our local works are steadily improving and now can make an impacting presence in global competition like this one.

Out of the five projects shortlisted, four are architectural works and one is an interior design project. Will they take home at least an award? The full result of the awards will be announced today and I will post it up earliest by this coming weekend. It would be nice if we can at least win one, but I think the chance is quite low. Now I’m also dreaming that hopefully in future, there would be my own architectural works featured and winning in this festival. Haha….Anyway, here are some quick info of the five Malaysian works competing in the currently running World Architecture Festival in Singapore:

G Hotel Kelawai, Penang
Completed – Hotel and Leisure
K2LD Architects, collaborating architect, T.Y. Au

 

Contemporary and sophisticated, the 24-storey G Hotel Kelawai in Penang boasts the island’s first sky bar at its rooftop infinity pool, offering panoramic views of Penang Hill and George Town. On the ground floor, a garden acts as an extension of the public park next to it, providing a green space for people to gather. Looking in from the street and lobby level, one will see a suspended golden cage specifically designed to allow multiple entry points that lead to and connect the lobby, lounge bar, and reception areas. To reduce heat in our tropical climate, the building has been constructed with a dual-layer “skin”, the outer layer consisting of a sun protecting screen made with durable and recyclable aluminium hollow sections on the podium and expanded mesh on the tower component. Deep concrete overhangs that project out from the building floor plates block direct sunlight plus hold the screening devices in a pleasing geometrical form and pattern. Come nightfall, the facade screens light up in a display of colours to reflect the many different festivities celebrated in multicultural Malaysia.

The Spiral Pedestrian and Cycle Link, Kuala Lumpur
Future Projects – Infrastructure
Eleena Jamil Architect

A green and healthy-living-based design, this proposed development aims to boost sustainable mobility and improve ecological connections in Kuala Lumpur. The architect hopes to achieve the latter by linking key landmarks currently separated by different conditions. The project will allow cyclists and pedestrians of all levels of mobility to move around. The plan includes looking at the possibility of extending the routes around Perdana Botanical Gardens to areas that are currently off-limits. The journey begins by ascending a spiral ramp at one end, taking cyclists and pedestrians across a slip road. Then the path continues along a sloping green edge parallel to a busy highway. Going back to ground level will involve circling a spiral garden filled with an array of local tropical plants. Existing mature trees in the area add to a “forest canopy” experience.

Tree Cube, Kota Kinabalu
Future Projects – Education
Kenneth Tan Design Architect (KTDA)

This project’s purpose is to transform a school’s central courtyard into a more functional space for both teachers and students. Usable floor space is maximised by doing away with walls, creating an open pathway between buildings and offering a conducive space for teachers and students to socialise. This is further enhanced by the strategic placing of chairs and tables. The plan also involves incorporating two new office floors with staircases built along the side. The design allows a generous amount of natural light to fill the interior, with a tree rising up towards a natural skylight adding to the serenity of the space. A wooden lattice design – representing the branches of a tree which extends downward from the ceiling – decorates the inner wall of the skylight.

The Bamboo Playhouse, Kuala Lumpur
Small Projects
Eleena Jamil Architect

The Bamboo Playhouse is a public pavilion designed to provide a shaded space for play, rest, meeting points, and performances. It explores the potential of using bamboo as a sustainable building material in a modular structure and reflects the Malay kampung house style, which features raised decks of different heights. From the centre of each deck, a column consisting of 100mm-diameter bamboo culms open up like an umbrella to act as the roof structure. The underside of the roof is lined with a traditional woven bamboo mat. Inspired by the traditional Malay freestanding pavilions called wakaf, the structure will also see bamboo “baskets”, or treehouses, suspended high above the ground. Located in the Perdana Botanical Garden in Kuala Lumpur, it will become one of the first formal bamboo structures in the city when completed.

Expressionz The Loft, Kuala Lumpur
Interior Design – Residential
Motto Designs Sdn Bhd

This design exhibits creative use of space, materials, and lighting. The layout is kept clean and spacious against a dark palette background, typical of the interior design firm’s signature style. In the living room, well-designed feature walls ascend all the way to the top, exuding a solid look. Furnishing is kept minimal with only key designer pieces to enhance the room while a bookcase lines the wall all the way to the ceiling. The flight of stairs leading to the master bedroom and en suite bathroom features timber finishes and a drop-down shelf that acts as a side table for the armchair beneath the stairway. The minimalist look is maintained with a clever use of space for functional aspects like the kitchen and laundry. The master bedroom adopts a monochrome palette that flows into the bathroom as well. There, a standalone bathtub against a white screen and grey tiled walls with his-and-hers basins completes the space.

(Images and information in this blog post are from this particular source: http://www.star2.com/culture/design/2015/11/06/5-amazing-malaysian-architecture-and-design-projects-shortlisted-for-award/)

Sunday, 29th March 2015. A day of mourning for Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. His state funeral today.

When the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew passed away last Monday at the age of 91, Singaporeans were in deep grief and sadness over the demise of the nation’s founding father. I have also written a blog post in tribute to this great man (check out that post by just scrolling down if you are interested). In these few days, the public from all walks of life were willing to queue up to 8 hours or more (many even overnight as seen in image below) just to pay their last respect to Lee Kuan Yew in Parliament House where his coffin is placed for public memorial service. That’s a strong sign of patriotism of Singaporeans to their first leader after independence.

Leaders from many countries across the world offered their condolences to Mr. Lee Hsien Loong (whom is the son of Lee Kuan Yew and the current Singapore’s Prime Minister) and his family. In fact, today, when Lee Kuan Yew’s state funeral will be held in the afternoon, a huge number of foreign leaders and dignitaries have confirmed their attendance as a mark of respect and a sign of how important and influential this man was to Asia and to the world. President of South Korea, Indonesia, Israel and Myanmar, Prime Minister of Japan, India, Australia, Thailand, Cambodia, and Vietnam, King of Malaysia, Vice President of China, Former President of United States (Bill Clinton) and several others will join the state funeral.

The world has lost a great man who not only contributed so much to the success of Singapore today but also helped mentor many leaders in various countries across the world. He was simply terrific and irreplaceable. Goodbye and rest in peace, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Eventhough I’m a Malaysian (not Singaporean), but being a neighbour of your prosperous and great nation, I do know all the good things you have done for the country. You certainly made Singaporeans proud. The world will miss you.

Look at how great Singapore is now,…all thanks to the great start and effort by Mr. Lee Kuan Yew as the country’s first Prime Minister. I’m always jealous of how great our neighbouring nation is, and how far behind Malaysia is. That’s a fact no matter how much we love and biased towards our own country, Malaysia. Why can’t our leaders act and work like him…it’s all for the sake of our country! But too bad, history can’t be changed. Singapore has become a famous and a strong developed nation, a very successful one out from nothing in the beginning, while Malaysia is lagging behind seriously right now. We can still change to improve, but our government…haiz…hopeless.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

 

Movie review: The Journey (2014)

You must be surprised that I only got to watch ‘The Journey’ (一路有你) film recently as it had been released way many months ago in conjunction with the Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration early this year. That time I only went for those CNY-themed films from Hong Kong as usual every year and hence had put our local production, ‘The Journey’ aside. It is always right with our mindset that our local films couldn’t work out well all the time. However, ‘The Journey’ proved it wrong. The film received overwhelming positive feedbacks and had since then became the highest grossing local film at over RM 17 million intake in box office.

So, of course I’m going to watch it eventhough it’s a bit late to check whether it is really that good. And yup…I can say ‘The Journey’ is a local masterpiece, and deserved to be the representative of Malaysia in film industry. It is a Malaysian Chinese film by Astro, and directed by Chiu Keng Guan, whom had previously directed several past local CNY movies too. ‘The Journey’ thus became his greatest work. The film tells the story of a very conservative father whom is supposed to be very happy of the return of his daughter from oversea after so many years. However, things didn’t go right when his daughter brought home her fiance, a happy-go-lucky Western boy. From there, an unusual yet wonderful adventure began.

Some said it is a plain story. A bit bored here or there. But for me, it’s not plain. It’s just a humble, simple, light, down-to-earth plot, which can still delivers surprisingly. It’s not meant to be overly dramatic, with actions, twists or intense plot. No…It has to be just like this…let it flow and you will get engaged to its moving story automatically. It is aimed to convey meaningful and memorable messages especially during the festive season when the film was released. And it did so successfully. ‘The Journey’ is no doubt an emotionally poignant and a wonderfully funny movie. There are some hilarious moments to keep you entertained too. But of course, this movie isn’t perfect yet as there are some aspects in the film that can be developed further.

The movie is also doing well in showcasing the beauty of Malaysia from its picturesque natural setting to its people of different cultures, traditions and languages particularly of the Chinese since this is a CNY-themed film. As predicted, do expect multiple languages heard from this movie (Cantonese, Mandarin, English, Malay, Hokkien, etc). This is what a Malaysian film is. ‘Rojak’ languages. I also find having a Western actor as the lead here is a fresh new approach to a local film, and it works well. Well, he is Ben Andrew Pfeifer, and he contributed very good for his character. Joanne Yew as the female lead is capable of handling her role very well too. As for her father in the film (also the lead), Frankie Lee couldn’t hit the role enough yet as the conservative uncle to his son-in-law. He always gave the same dull expression all the time. He can actually be a bit more dramatic in case we find the film too flat or anything. But he didn’t do so. Anyway, in general, the casts still do deliver for a heartfelt and rewarding performances.

The film also has beautiful and stunning cinematography. Just amazing. So, mostly all my points are complimenting this film. It surprised me and it is an eye-opener. ‘The Journey’ is truly a must-see film for all Malaysians. If you still haven’t seen it, I recommend this for you. Don’t miss this. It’s a gem of Malaysian films. Simply beautiful and even outstanding. Beyond my expectation and it delivers even if it’s just from a small production scale. It is the best Malaysian film I have seen so far. Thumbs up. Finally, local films have hope. I think this will win big in coming local film awards too. Out of 10 points, I rate ‘The Journey’ a total of 8.0. At first, I wish to give only 7.8, but I would just add 0.2 point more as my effort in support of local production. You can do it! Malaysia can do it!

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)

James Wan, a Hollywood director whom actually came from Malaysia

Let me give you a question before I start to write on this topic. How many Malaysian film celebrities you know that made it to international fame and appeal? Yes, I guess, only one or two, right? That’s Michelle Yeoh of course (reached beyond Hollywood), and probably Angelica Lee whom had won best actress before in Hong Kong Film Awards and Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards. But do you guys know who is James Wan? By the way, he is not an actor.

Yesterday, when I had watched the Fast and Furious 6, I did a bit of research regarding the film and its future sequel. This sixth instalment of the franchise is directed by Justin Lin, whom had previously directed also three films of the same franchise. However, he had announced to step aside from the directing work in the upcoming seventh instalment. And the job is passed on to James Wan on which the principal filming would begin by this August. Then, it is written on the article that James Wan is actually a Malaysian-born Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director! He was born in Kuching, Sarawak and was raised in Perth, Australia.

Ohh, Malaysia has actually a directing talent making his name in Hollywood already and yet we didn’t notice that for so long. Now, have you watch any or all of the films in popular ‘Saw’ franchise which focuses on death games or something gruesome like that? If you are a horror fans of such genre, you must be loving this kind of films. Yes, ‘Saw’ franchise is started out by James Wan in collaboration with Leigh Whannell. Surprised right? The man who actually thought of such a brilliant horror theme and paved the way for much more subsequent films in the franchise is actually from Malaysia! Now, the successful franchise had seven films. And I watched all of it. What a great horror franchise! He is the director and writer of ‘Saw’, producer of ‘Saw 2′, Saw 3’ (also writer), ‘Saw 4’, ‘Saw 5’, ‘Saw 6’, and the latest one, ‘Saw 3D’.

Besides than that, other of his notable works are ‘Dead Silence’, ‘Death Sentence’ and ‘Insidious’. ‘Insidious’ which is a psychological horror film came to be a huge success in box office reception as well as in reviews and ratings worldwide when it is released two years ago. It is James’ most profitable film up to date. He had also directed the film ‘The Conjuring’ and ‘Insidious Chapter 2’ which both are scheduled to be released later this year. Hmm…he seems to be involved only on horror genre. But nope, now he is signed on to direct ‘Fast and Furious 7’ as mentioned earlier.

It’s an action-packed film involving street racing and tackling some sort of heist or other type of crime. No horror element, but the studio is confident by the ability of James Wan and had selected him for the directing job. So, it’s time for James to explore new element, and let’s hope he would do well on it. Malaysia Boleh, right? Haha… And he is now only 36 years old. Long way ahead for him to make further success in Hollywood screen. Perhaps, in near future, his work could win him a best director and best picture awards in Academy Awards. Let’s hope so. Too bad, he is an Australian citizen now, but still had its root in Malaysia. He is one of the local-born talent not many Malaysians know. Now you know it. I only found it out yesterday. Haha…

(All images and information in this post are from various credible sources throughout the world wide web)

Michelle Yeoh honored at Asian Film Awards 2013

Michelle Yeoh, an international-acclaimed star is a Hong Kong based Malaysian actress if you don’t know anything about her. She is best known for performing her own stunts in Hong Kong action films that brought her to fame in early 1990s. She is also famous especially in Western world for her roles in 1997 James Bond film, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ as Bond female sidekick and lover, Wai Lin and also in multiple Academy Award-winning Chinese language martial arts film ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ for which she was nominated in BAFTA at 2000 for best actress.

At the recent annual Asian Film Awards held at Hong Kong, Michelle Yeoh is awarded with Excellence in Asian Cinema Trophy, which is the most prestigious recognition presented on that particular night. The award is presented to honour Michelle Yeoh’s immense contribution to the Asian cinema for over two decades and also bringing Asian cinema to world class stage. In her acceptance speech, she mentioned that she waited for this award for so long and that she was happy to receive this award at Hong Kong, the place where her career started while also mentioning her birth country, Malaysia. She is from Ipoh, Malaysia. She is now 50 years old but still looks very outstanding. This award doesn’t means that she needs to retire, but as an indication that there would be more filming opportunities for this highly talented star.

(Image source: http://media.kansascity.com/smedia/2013/03/18/21/20/525-xqMIk.St.55.jpeg)

Sammo Hung presented the trophy along with few others to Michelle Yeoh. The Chinese melodrama ‘Mystery’ was named best film at the event, which also saw two stars from the Philippines taking home the main acting prizes. Nora Aunor, 59, was named best actress for Thy Womb, while 87-year-old Eddie Garcia was named best actor for Bwakaw. Best director goes to Takeshi Kitano for ‘Outrage Beyond’. The AFA Presentation Ceremony takes place as part of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong Opening Gala. Eminent filmmakers and superstars from around the world are invited to bestow awards upon the winner(s) of each category, making the ceremony a dazzling extravaganza as well as an influential cultural event.

Let’s move back our highlight on Michelle Yeoh. She is the only Malaysian actress with a star at the Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars, as well as the only Malaysian to reach such a great height in film industry on international scale. Her notable films are ‘Police Story 3: Supercop’, ‘The Heroic Trio’, ‘Tai Chi Master’, ‘Wing Chun’, ‘The Soong Sisters’, ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’, ‘Moonlight Express’, ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, ‘Memoirs of a Geisha’, ‘The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor’, ‘Reign of Assassins’, ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’, and ‘The Lady’. Overall, she had starred in over 35 films to date. She is a former Miss Malaysia beauty pageant and is the only Asian actress to be listed as one of the all-time screen beauties by People’s Magazine. Last but not least, a big congratulation to Michelle Yeoh for taking this award and making Malaysia proud once again!

Information source:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21827482

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Yeoh

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_Film_Awards

 

Happy International Women’s Day!

I was reminded this morning from the radio station that today is the International Women’s Day. Basically, it’s a day celebrated annually to show respect, appreciation and love towards women. It’s also a celebration for women’s economic, political and social achievements, acknowledging and highlighting women’s contribution to every aspects. Instead, the deejay commented that on this morning, some called in to voice out praise to men instead of to women, which goes out of topic. Hilarious. But still, today, most people called in to show their admiration or love to their mother, daughter, grandmother, wife, or girlfriend.

Happy International Women’s Day to all women! Say ‘no’ to violence or discrimination against women. Instead, women nowadays are much more ‘powerful’. I as a man, have to say that women are no where to be forgotten, and that their existence is essential to the continuity and development of our life and the world. It’s unlike in those days when the men go out to get educated, trained and to work while women has to stay at home with no essential contribution to countries. Now, equality is emphasized and women are now trained or educated well just like men. Women now have rights just like men. Some of them have had even hold high status either in politics or economics.

I would like to take this opportunity to list down several notable Malaysian women that I admire (exception of my family members) and should be honored. They are of course highly popular and had contributed significantly to bring Malaysia to international glory. Here they are:

1. Michelle Yeoh – I think she is first in my mind. A very famous international actress known for performing her own stunts whom ventured into Hong Kong film industry successfully. She was also the Bond girl in ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ which received critical acclaim for her great performance in Hollywood screen. She was the first and only Malaysian to be nominated in BAFTA for Best Actress, and also the first and only Malaysian to have had her star at Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars. Charming, talented and beautiful.

2. Siti Nurhaliza – Perhaps, she is the most famous Malaysian singer known well abroad too. Her voice and songs are beautiful and amazing. Considerably known as one of the divas of Asia, Siti’s status is unchallengeable. She is Malaysia’s very lovely local icon.

3. Nicol David – Too bad that squash is not a sport included in Olympics. If not, Malaysia would have had won gold medal long time ago. Nicol David is like the master of squash which she had won many of the tournaments she participated. She is no doubt the best Malaysian sportswoman of our generation.

4. Fish Leong – She is a Malaysian Chinese singer that is now based in Taiwan (due to greater success to achieve there). Her singing career expanded successfully to Chinese-speaking nations; Singapore, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. She is best known for love songs (most of her songs are karaoke hit) and she is often called as the Queen of Love Songs.

Who else you can suggest that could be the most admiring or successful Malaysian women besides than the few I mentioned above? They are usually of celebrities whom made their name known globally too. A big thank you to them as they no doubt contributed significantly that makes Malaysia proud eventhough most of them are now not based in Malaysia anymore (due to several obvious reasons…it’s hard to get famous internationally here as there is not much exposure you can get over here locally). Anyway, Happy International Women’s Day to all women again! Have a great day! But do you know that there is International Men’s Day too? Haha..I believe not many people knew that. It’s celebrated on 19th November every year.

(Images in this post are from various sources throughout the world wide web)