school begins

i am young

::dun ask me why i have a My little pony toy in my apartment. i just do...::
if last year was a year of hugs,
then this year would be a year of age.
i've always lived by these words:
"age is just a number. as long as you're young
at heart, that's all that matters."
i still live by that...
or at least that's wat i keep telling myself.
i remember meeting up with my godbro last dec,
he kept telling me how old we've grown.
i've known him since i was 17;
an age of innocence.
an age of ignorance.
an age of exploration.
an age of naive-ness.
we were so full of ourselves.
we were at an age where nothing really matters or concerns us.
unneccessary problems and pointless dramas were usually created by ourselves.
i guess that is what being young is all about.
it's always nice reminiscing my younger days... and i kinda miss it.
somehow, in an extremely weird way,
thinking of my godbro brings back a very nostalgic feeling...
it reminds me of my JC days; my growing up era.
though that period isnt all that cheery and all,
but somehow... it makes me feel... i dunno.... nice.
both of us are now 24.
when i see him... it gives me a bittersweet kind of feeling...
i'm always happy to see him.
but my heart, it just hurts a little...
maybe he's my link to my past.
like a reflection of my early days.
when i see him, i see my younger self.
and seeing us grow older only fuels a lot of questions.
what have we achieved over these years?
how much have we changed?
where will we be in the future?
WHO will we be in the future?!
will he be able to recognise me then? and vice versa.
these are just questions and will remain as questions
till i grow older and find it out for myself.
fazli, my dearest bro, if you are even ever gona read this,
we've gone thru so much,
we've appeared and disappeared
in each other's lives over and over again.
but you'll always be my bro.
and i do miss you. i really do.
growing old is part of living and maturing.
let us not be afraid, but embrace it.
age is just a number.
as long as we are young at heart,
that's all that matters.
as long as we have our love ones beside us,
that's all that matters.


::i was really bored during my professional practice for design lesson... so i did this horrible sketch on my brief::

first week of school has been great.
it's nice to see everyone back in school again.
the welcome-back hugs,
the usual how-was-your-holiday conversations.
it's great to have frens from around the world.
that way you get to hear interesting stories and
their getaways during the holidays.
i love the first week school.
it's normally very relaxing.
but hey, i did receive my first assignment
from my graphic design studio and
it's due the following week. argh...
it's a minor assignment. it's worth 10%.
not too bad...


::took a pic of michelle's water botter during studio...::


::michael, fiona and jolina. aaron is actually hiding behind aaron...::


::sam's erm.. hmm... metallic red hair... yeah it's metallic red...::


::eri and i in design studio. her surname's watanabe, so i asked if she's related to ken watanabe... obviously the answer is no... but yeah, hope to see her in tokyo, if i ever go there next year::


::jolina and i in design studio::

for my first assignment,
i have to design a self portrait.
but this work should NOT be an expression of my inner self.
classmates and lecturers should be able to identify me from
my self portrait. i cant simply take a photo of myself of cos.
nor should my name appera anywhere in my brief.
so the objective of this assignment is NOT self-expression,
it's COMMUNICATION.
i find it a little challenging.
why?
cos normally we are pushed to be expressive,
and in some ways, projecting abstract concepts into our designs.
so going back to basics again seems a little... rusty? :)
anyway, this is my design process.
the final piece looks extremely different from my initial roughs.
also, the final pieces is something very different from
what i normally would have done.


sketch of my self portrait. the stylization was meant to have an anime feel to it because, yes, i'm a huge anime freak. therefore it may not necessary look like me. but the main emphasis is my hair. it's a distinct physical feature of me. so i exaggerated the hair a little so that it is made obvious to the viewers::


::havaianas flip flips is something that others associate with me. everyone in class knows that i wear havaianas all the time, even during winter! some even came up to me and says that when they see me, they always wana see wat colour havaianas am i wearing. so it was only natural to use it in my design. this is my initial rough. very colourful, very bold, very me... but i had problems with the placement of the flip flops::


::i tried playing around with symmetry. this rough sketch, like the previous one, very colour and bold. but it looks like my other designs, and i wanted a change. i wanted more out of me. so i consulted my tutors and see what else could i do::


::this is my final design. my concept is an emblem. so i designed something that resembles close to one. emblems usually have an asymmetrical form. that explains the hand on one side and the leg on the other. i normally wear accessories on my hand and leg as well. those who know me would recognise my black wrist bands. that is part of my identity as well, therefore i added that element in. the strap of the havaianas forms a shield, something that is often seen in emblems. i added some floral designs becos they usual appear in my work, so i wanted to retain some of my style, and also at the same time, trying to retain some symmetry in my emblem. colour wise... i just went with watever that looks nice. haa. ::



so what do you guys think? i love it a lot anyway.
so i dun really care if others hate it. haa! :)


::pic of taken at the corner of La Trobe and Swanston Street::
now that i'm back in melbourne,
i have a whole lot of time for myself.
it's a good thing for me.
i havent really had time for myself when i was back
in singapore during the holidays.
i';ve been catching up with my anime.
bought a lot of animes during this past week.
yesh, australia has a huge collection of animes.
much much much more than what singapore has to offer.
i just finished watching getbackers.
now i'm in the midst of watching paranoia agent.
i've also been doing quite a bit of shopping.
bought 4 pairs of havaianas.
tshirt from french connection.
4 v-neck Ts from cotton on.
a shirt from Industrie.
2 vintage Tshirts.
belt from adidas originals.
polo T from Marcs.
bodyshop products.
toys...
yesh, retail shopping....
but i miss late night suppers!!!
fauz! i wana have supper! meow!
then you can sing, suping and i can do back-up.
we can call ourselves "Gary and the dreamboy/girl".
ok crapping...


::yup... these are my purchases for the week...::

anyway, i foresee myself being very busy starting next week.
i'll be deisgning a logo, a flyer and a poster for a
charity concert. there'll be some famous mandarin
singers who will be performing for the event.
but er... i'm not familiar with any mandarin singers.
when najib told me who they were,
i thought they were females singers.
then najib said, no! they are male singers!!!
my gawd... paiseh...
anyway, not gona post any details on it yet.
but when the event draws near, i'll post it up.
but it's gona be so exciting (and stress) designing it.
apparently my design would be on newspapers too.
so look out for it ya! :)


::pic of the rougeberry perfume from bodyshop::
was able to get this lovely perfume from bodyshop.
it's a collaboration with MTV.
i love the scent!
rougeberry.... yeah nice... :)
it comes with a good cost as well.
for every bottle that you purchase,
$11 goes to the aids foundation.
not bad eh. :)

other irrelavent pics

::took this pic at Caulfied train station while i was waiting for the train to head back to the city::


::pic of Caulfield station. used my fossil aviator sunglasses to filter the strong sunlight::


::pic of my view from my apartment. the view is actually quite pathetic. but it's ok, i still my apartment::


::pic of the tram in the city::


::one of the alleyways in Chinatown::


::melon bun!!!! i love melon bun!! not that it tastes very nice, but becos shana, one of my favourite anime character from shakugan no shana, loves to eat them. so i've been stocking them up and eating them whenever i'm hungry... hee::


::my bible. cant leave without it::