Books Actually

Books Actually move to a new place again, this time is at Club Street, occupied 3 stories. I'm not very interested on their books, but i like their set up & products.

泰有创意!

Guess year 2009 is a travel year for me, this Dec i'm going to my no.4 destination- Bangkok, Thailand! This trip have been organized since 8 mths ago, during airasia promotion, which cost rm244 (incl taxes, luggage). I'm going with 2 ladies, who is my sec schmates- khiaw & oren. but unfortunately, khiaw might not join us due to her new job commitment. :( well, i have to explore Bkk with oren now.

Friends who been to bkk keep telling me that bkk is a very creative place, i believe it but i did not really keep into heart. this evening after work, i went to coffee bean to prepare itinerary by using this 2 sources - 大曼谷旅游通, and 泰有创意.. and the outcome is.... thailand is really a great platform for creative ppl! :D So many creative center, so many concept store, concept restaurant cafe... etc..

During this trip, i MUST go to.........

TCDC- Thailand Creative & Design Center for sure!

H1, Playground, a place which gather all designers

Bed Supper club, considered one of the world most creative interior design

Sirroco bar, where you can see the panaromic view of bkk city

Suan-Lum night bazaar, where you can find creative & interesting stuff there

I believe there are more to explore during this trip! and I'm looking forward for this trip! :)

yes, i bought books again :P the last time i bought was few mths back. and this 3 books are less than $50 :)

my 32m2 apartment

my 32m2 apartment- is a book wrote by Gary Chang- an architect from Hong Kong. i get to know this book from yahoo news, and it interested me after reading the review. when i were in HK, i spend an hour at Kubrick bookstore to finish this book, wanted to buy it but i feel this is abit expensive, which cost sgd 43. i back to singapore with a little of regretful.... so, this time when Frank went to Hong Kong, i urged him to get this book for me, and here it goes.... :)

A brief intro about this brilliant architect on how he transformed his little apartment to a multi-tasks, multi-function house:

Architect Gary Chang has lived in the same 32 square metre apartment for over 30 years - since he was 14 years old. ‘My whole family – my parents, my three younger sisters, and me – used to live here. To make ends meet, my parents also rented out one of the rooms to an outsider, a woman in her late twenties. Then the room was rented to her younger brother. I vaguely recall our ‘room tenant’ stayed in our flat for around two years. Thereafter, the flat became home…for the six of us.’ Living in a tiny rented space with a large family was not uncommon in 1960s and 70s Hong Kong. Chang has not only developed a unique sensitivity towards small interior spaces and an interest in architectural design, but also finds endless fun, entertainment, and joie de vivre in his living environment. He now lives in and enjoys this 32m2 apartment by himself. The apartment has been gone through five different interior settings – in 1976, 1988, 1990, 1998 and 2007. More than a simple interior design story, this book illustrates the transformation of a living space and how people respond to different spatial settings.


Frank bought me this little 万花筒 as souvenir, design by an illustrator named Carrie Chau.

Everything look so beautiful and fanciful when you use that to view the world....

"Design Studios"

"Kawakong designworks" page

today is friday, but i din plan for any activities for tonight. so, i went to Page One alone, as i'm "craving" for new books since this morning. wanted to add some chinese books to my bookshelve, but eventually, i din manage to get any.

Page one is having some design books campaign, and i bought this --- "SMALL STUDIOS", a very thick book, value for money? ($64.09 before 20% discount)... introducing 100 nos. of small studios (small studios = 2-3 person who run the company in a small office or soho) around the world (western & Asia), all are from design field for sure.

this book showcased the owner of each design studio --- how they develop their business, how different to work from a big company and small company, etc.. it also showcase their portfolio....

very inspiring, i hope i can be 1 of them very soon. and proudly speaking, there are 2 small studios from Malaysia Truly Asia featured in this book! Both are "Grain Studio" and "Kawakong Designworks".

talk about design, i'm abit confused lately. i think i'm in love with graphic (2D) more than interior (3D)... :(

is that sad to find out? i don't know. i guess this is because i'm doing interior in commercial line (mostly for offices, and offices in this region are all very.........ahem....) for almost 4 years, office client are very corporate and there is not much design that we can apply on, as they always see practicality as priority. in order to meet practicality and functionality, we have to give up aesthetically or design intention. If we insist on design intention, in this "pitching industry", we will lose the job for sure...!

this month, work is not that busy, as few of the projects were handed-over. finally, we can start on our "self-initiated" project, which we always like to talk about, but never have the time to start off.

we are planning to do a product (cannot reveal now... :P), and make it as corporate gift + sell it out as x'mas present for this year.

because of this project, i started to do self-learning on how to use Adobe Illustrator this few days, as i feel the tool in Photoshop is limited for me to do what i intend to do.

from what i'm doing this few days, i really fall in love with this "graphic designing" activities :P besides that, i'm also very amazed by all the editor of books and magazine, i wonder how they come out with such a great planning/ layout and graphic edit. salute.......! ^^