Angkor Wat tomorrow! Will write about it all when I get back.
If I can get away with digging a hole in one of the UNESCO-rated Buddhist towers [a la Tony Leung in In the Mood for Love �������A], I'll certainly unload all my secrets from my jumbled-up head :)

Worrying info from their webpage:

HEALTH:

Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world, and this means virtually no reliable medical facilities, doctors, clinics, hospitals or medication are available except in the capital, Phnom Penh. Even here, hospitals can be in very poor condition and badly equipped and medicines are often past their sell-by date or made up of local mixtures of flour and sugar.
If you become seriously ill in Cambodia and require urgent medical treatment....it is essential to get to Bangkok, or at least to Saigon.... On no account should you ever receive an infusion to treat dehydration, as people often die of septicemia which is caused by bacteria entering their blood during infusions. The same goes for blood transfusions....

SAFETY:

Cambodia is a country just emerging from a long period of civil war. The current situation is very uncertain and there may be more violence ahead. Added to this uncertainty, large areas of the country are still mined. It is therefore essential that you stay on clearly marked paths, preferably with a guide. Never wander off a path as you may stumble into a mined area. Never touch any mines, bombs, rockets or artillery shells. They may very likely be live.

Not the best place to celebrate New Year's Eve, is it?

Gotta luv Chinese movies when they're done right. I watched in the space of 3 days Infernal Affairs �o�g��, Zhang Yimou's Hero [english link] Ӣ�� and The Cat Returns, the latest from Miyazaki's Studio Ghibli.

The average = The Cat Returns:
This one wasn't directed by Miyazaki, and it shows. Although visually it's thouroughly detailed like other Miyazaki films, the plot left a lot of gaps.

The good = Infernal Affairs:
Another good cop bad cop story, but it kept me guessing till the end. Funnies: the Mainland Chinese version has a different ending [more satisfying in my opinion] and rumour has it that you'll be able to chose how the film ends on the forthcoming DVD.

The stunner = Hero:
One story, with 3 variations and 6 tones of colour. Zhang Yimou's first martial arts film, starring Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Maggie Chung, Jet Li and Zhang Ziyi (of Crouching Tiger fame). The grandiose and lushness is incomparable. Need I say more??

Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress:
An amazing little read about what it meant to be "re-educated" in China during the Cultural Revolution. The novel became a national bestseller in France in 2001. It's by a man who was re-educated himself, who later emigrated to France to study film. The book has been adapted to a movie, starring Zhou Xun ��Ѹ [who was also in Suzhou River �K�ݺ� ]

27 hours and three airports later, I'm finally home!
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Discovery + Dilemma No. 1:

My mum's uber-very-this-season, trendier-than-me Nevaho Indian boots, in suede (the material-de-jour), complete with pointy toe and fringey bits.
I had the same boots (but round toed) when I was 5. and I HATED them at the time.
Is it secret 80's nostalgia, or a semi-mid-life-crisis symptom? Or is my mummy's fashion antena plainly 10x sharper than mine?
And she bought technicoloured rabbit fur scarf things. I thought they were rather strange, but my mum claims they are the zeitgeist accessory...hmm...*unconvinced*
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Merry Christmas to all!
Hope you're not spending x'mas eve at home and in front of an emotionless monitor, jetlagged and rather sad like I am now.

New Plans for Ground Zero:

Be sure to check out the interactive special.
Personally, I'm torn between the schemes proposed by United Architects and THINK. I thought those were the most poetic and dynamic plans out of the lot.
Am quite disappointed by the Big Names' proposals - chiefly Norman Foster, SOM and the Richard Meier + Peter Eisenman + Charles Gwathmey + Steven Holl collective. Each group plonked what is essentially their respective signature product onto the site, which seemed to me a little insensitive given the context.

NY Times gave Foster's Towers a harsh, albeit wickedly true review:

"Norman Foster's design is one's favorite new hate. Sometimes it seems that when the British peer over the horizon, all they see is Singapore....Here, the twin towers are reborn as one, a Siamese twin of a skyscraper that would be the world's tallest.....The project has success written all over it. But why does it leave us with the impression that it would be far happier in Hong Kong?"

One more week to go, one more week for sorrow:
Must persist.....got mildly homesick today at the sight of all snacks Asian and familiar at the local Japanese grocery store *^*;
I miss the permanently overflowing kitchen at home. I always thought we have enough junk food to feed a small nation in famine. Alas, I shall not digress into the great debate of have vs. have-nots between developed and developing countries, but will go back to writing my boring, un-world-changing and overdue essays.

ITALY for the summer!!!

I'm so overwhelmed! My former research supervisor has just asked me to join her Puccini project @ La Scala for the summer =D [see Nov 13th entry]
Will be in warm, sunny Lucca (nr. Florence) for two months. Hopefully I'll get a nice Mediterranean tan, if I miraculously don't have to pull allnighters indoors 24-7 in some dark hole known as a computer cluster.

Keepin' my fingers crossed that this project will really take off : x :

My claim-to-fame in Architecture:

Got over-excited today in lecture. We finally got to the more interesting part of the course (which unfortunately, is the shortest part as it's at the end of the semester): Modernism. The lecturer mentionned Philip Johnson as the person who institutionalised the International Style (as championed by Mies Van der Rohe, Le Corbusier etc.) in America when he held an exhibition about it at MoMA.

I had an unbearable urge to scream: "I met him at his Glass House!". Too bad decorum and logic overruled impulse.

Two years ago, I was interning with an alumni, Hilary Lewis, who was writing her second autobiography on PJ (who is now 96 and still working, bless him). As part of work-shadowing, she brought me along to New Canaan, Connecticut to one of her interviews with PJ at his private estate.
Back then, I was an ignorant lass and had very little idea of the significance of the meeting. Anyone with any knowledge of architecture history would have killed to meet this man. He is literally the Godfather of American Architecture, post 1950. (see the Seagram Building: [1][2], a Manhattan skyscraper Mies and him collaborated on) But no, it was me who got to meet him.

The Godfather is a fragile-looking, but dignified old man. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, like a conspiring little boy. He also had the coolest glasses - round, black bakelite ones with straight arms and no earpiece. (Later on, after seeing more eminnent architects with cool glasses, I've come to the conclusion that cool glasses are a contributing factor in the making of a successful architect.) He also has two big fluffy Keeshonds - the cutest and friendliest dogs I've ever "met". (They liked me so much that they dribbled all over me and my stuff.)

My brief exchange of words with the Great Man went as follows -

Hilary: This is Chin Yan, an aspiring urban planner from MIT.
PJ: [in despise] Oh, you're one of those, are you?
me: [embarrassed smile]

Sheer stupidity + exhibitionism can be so entertaining. (via uberchick)

Cartoons for everyone:

For runaway sex slaves - actually not as kinky as it might sound but still brilliantly cliche. Supreme soundtrack too.
For sociopath wannabies - Bart Simpson is a goodie2shoes compared to this kid.

Seeing the portfolio of my fellow classmate made me feel grossly incompetent and directionless in whatever I'm doing.
How did I manage to waste 3.5 years at this Institution?
I've taken one or two art classes here but it's nothing like this.

ps/ I'm thinking of popping over to that tiny speck of an island known as Great Britain circa Chinese New Year. (31st Jan - 3 Feb)
Key deciding factor: nevermind my family is gonna be there, but will I make the SALES?

pps/ Please send your brandname ideas to my school email. TA. [see Dec 1st entry - I've given up on the programming behind my psycho permalinks]

I am feeling shamelessly self-involved and self-indulgent. All I want for Christmas:

1. White chocolate massage bar
2. Minimalist dangley earrings (oh the oxymoron)
3. Ghetto blaster tote - I'm an 80's child and proud of it.

too bad both wardrobe and bathroom cabinet are already overstuffed and overflowing. When will I learn to stop?!

Doing my annual prezzies list is an excellent way to procrastinate, (I'm not shopping for myself, honest!!) and to think "profound" thoughts. (Nah, she's been a bitch this year...nah I'm too broke to get anything he'd actually use)

What's this monkey doing to my home?
One country, two systems? Yeah right.

Grow your own petri dish cyber pet!
The group responsible, Singlecell also does more generic interactive art. (via Shortfuse)
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it was a record-low -8'C this morning. I walked out with wet hair, and arrived at school with crunchy, icicle-like hair in just 7 mins. Am dreading January.

Some sarcastic folks at school are taking the piss out of a pretentious school art publication and LiveJournal

If I were a glam rock star:

I'd be called Scarlet Baby. Rrrrouge...
Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Best musical movie ever made, tho not necessarily the best drag queen movie - have to say it's a tie with Priscilla, Queen of the Desert. I dig Aussie Abba fans more.

Call for hip & vibrant, European-sounding brand name for a pan-China jewelry chain store:

As some of you may know, I'm now "working" for my mum, helping her out with design & marketing ideas for a costume jewelry business. Since my lil' bro's departure, my mum's made a career move into design consulting for this mammoth costume jewelry enterprise. She's asked me to ask all of my friends to think of a good brandname:

Dear Large Kids,

Mother needs a wonderfully attractive BRANDNAME to start a new jewelry-related chainstore in southern China, and hoping U can come up with a really good name for this new business. This will be used in HK as well! So it should be easily impressive, with a hint of vibrant young European feel and the sound can be written into a good Chinese name. .... I have been given instruction to help do a new younger lower-end chain which I need a good name for!

Ask Ur goofy friends for suggestions! Collect any good advert, postcards or visuals U see in this world and send them to me. I have an office e-mail which has large capacity to store graphics. Just send those to

Mum said crisp sounding names are good (ie. less than 4 syllabols), pretty-sounding flower / people's names in any European languages are good too. THX, cy.